


Coffee For Two

by wylf_storm



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barista!Loki, Coffeeshop AU, College AU, Happy Ending, Loki is trying to be a rebel but failing because of his massive fucking crush, M/M, Motorcycle Racing, Motorcycles, Natasha is sassy but like when is she not so, Tattoos, Tony is just Tony, University AU, coffeeshop-college au, on the other hand Clint stirs up shit and it's great
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-01-04 22:17:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wylf_storm/pseuds/wylf_storm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki Laufeyson is a regular barista - bar his nose piercing, motorcycle and winding snake earring. He attends college, and when he doesn't have classes or isn't racing his motorbike out on old abandoned tracks for cash or fun, he works in Café Black, a little coffeeshop in the middle of town. He's content there, if not a little lonely, but when the man who looks like he belongs in a rock band comes in and changes his routine, Loki's life gets a lot less lonely and a lot more interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you to Sam, who coerced me into writing a coffeeshop AU that she demanded needed to exist. I obliged.  
> [This](http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/46584/Motorcycle-Photo-Gallery-Photo/2010-Ducati-Street-Bikes.aspx>) is Loki's bike.
> 
>  _DISCLAIMER_ \- I do not own the name Ducati, nor any rights to Ducati Motor Holding as a company. I also do not own any Marvel characters (as much as I might want to).

Loki hummed under his breath as he worked the coffee machine, smiling slightly because it was almost the time when the customer with the rockstar look came in to order his double shot flat white, extra froth. He bustled with the cappuccino he was making before asking Natasha to get a cream roll out of the cabinet for his current customer and set it in front of her with a cordial "Five fifty please."

  
She handed him the cash and smiled shyly at him as she left, but Loki didn't notice.

  
He was too busy absently touching his nose piercing as the gelled hair of his favourite customer passed by the front window and entered the café. He quickly brushed his hands down on his apron before smiling genuinely as the man sauntered over and leaned on the counter by the register.

  
"Morning stranger," Loki placed a little extra weight on the latter part of his sentence and glanced at the dark-haired not-stranger. They played this game almost every day, and Loki could practically hear Natasha roll her eyes behind him – she didn’t understand why he didn’t just ask the guy out, and liked to complain about it at closing time. Loki and rockstar man always greeted each other and maybe flirted a little but still had no idea who the other was, other than the blackboard that had said Loki’s name on it, accompanied by the words “hella gay” the one time Clint had got a hold of the chalk and a five minute unattended slot.

  
"Y'know, if you wanted my name you could've just asked."

  
Loki stumbled a bit as he turned the handle on the coffee maker.

  
This was new – he was actually going to get some information for once. He looked up at the man grinning on the other side of the counter. "I'm Tony. It's been almost two weeks, so I feel like I should introduce myself around about now."

  
Loki busied himself behind the machine with Tony's coffee, paying special attention to the cup as he angled his torso and the black marker out of sight. "Good to finally meet you officially Tony. I'm Loki, just your bog standard barista."

  
Loki watched in amusement as Tony frowned and stretched a little further over the counter. "There's nothing bog standard about you, or that snake coiled around your ear either." He smirked as he said it, and Loki's hand flew reflexively to his pierced ear. "Don't worry, I like it. It suits you." Loki drew his hand away, noting that Tony blushed a little after that particular admission. It was perhaps odd that Loki could make Tony’s coffee twice as fast as any other customer they had, but still managed to keep Tony at the counter for the same length of time, if not longer. He was a professional staller.

  
"Thank you. I like your honesty," he countered, carefully placing the cup so that Tony wouldn't see the words on it until he had left the shop.

  
He placed a muffin next to it on a whim. "On the house." He couldn't help smiling again at Tony's pleased grin.

  
"Thank you, Loki." Tony picked up both purchases and slipped his wallet into his pocket one-handed. "Same time tomorrow then?"

  
Loki ducked his head a little, flicking a stray hair back into place. "As always."

  
He waved as Tony left, and tossed some coins into the cash register to cover the donut he had given away. Natasha elbowed him between the ribs and raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s got a crush! Or does my gaydar fail me?” Loki swore under his breath and she grinned. “Can I record that? Clint now owes me a tenner. You wouldn’t deny a girl in need would you?” She batted her eyes at him and he muttered darkly about conspiring colleagues and their boyfriends.

  
Natasha accosted him again in his lunch break. "You know your rockstar man only comes in on the days you work, right?" She smiled slyly when he stilled and looked at her. She shrugged. "I’ve seen him walk past the window on his way to wherever, but he never calls in if he doesn’t see you in the window. Just thought you should know."

  
Natasha left to serve a customer then, and Loki nearly dropped his lunch when his phone vibrated. Thor knew not to text in work hours, so...

  
He outright grinned at the message.

[FROM #021578359426]  
Hw abt Sat @ 7 as well as 2moro? 5 Stark Way ull c it.

 

[[[On the cup Loki had put: and I like your rockstar hair too TONY ;) 0216738539642]]]

***

Loki was both excited and nervous for his date with rockstar man – Tony. He had a name now! - and he couldn't quite believe he had actually got his number.

  
All day he kept pulling out his phone and re-reading Tony's message, to the point where Natasha threatened to put his phone on the blender if he didn't pay attention. He elbowed her in the ribs and served the rest of the day's customers with an uncharacteristic smile.

  
When Tony came in the next day to get his regular coffee, Loki nearly fell over the staff couch in his haste to serve him. They chatted amicably, and he was glad that there was no awkwardness between them after the exchange the day before. Tony flirted right back at Loki, and dropped a couple of coins into the tips jar with a wink before going on his way again. Natasha smacked him with the end of a dishtowel and growled “Get that goofy smile off your face, you’re going to make me sick.”

  
The remaining days of the week passed with more texting between the two of them, and Loki couldn't help but grin whenever he checked his phone in his lunch break and found messages like "i bet ur hngry hav a donut on me iv seen u lookin @ them" or on his two days off: "omg loki ur writng is so neat i cnt stop lookng @ it". He always replied in full words, but found Tony's way of typing endearing rather than annoying.

  
Saturday rolled around faster than usual it seemed, and not even his shift on with Sif dampened his mood. He managed to leave the café early, and sped home through the traffic on his motorcycle, quickly getting changed into a pair of slightly ripped jeans and a new shirt before leaping on it and speeding off again. He wasn’t sure what was planned, and the shirt was a neat Henley and the jeans his least-battered pair.

  
He had Googled Tony's address, so he knew which part of the city he was going to, but didn't expect the fancy neighbourhood he found himself driving through. He surreptitiously kicked the bike down a couple of gears in an attempt to try making less noise, feeling magnificently out of place among the clipped lawns and smart cars outside large houses. The fact that they were parked outside as opposed to in their owners’ garages made him snicker quietly before continuing to concentrate on his directions – some people just had a need to show off. He found Tony's driveway and swung up it, killing the engine and kicking down the bike stand but not before Tony appeared in his doorway and came out to greet him in an AC/DC shirt, making Loki feel much better about his own appearance.

  
"Looks like I'm taking out even more of a bad boy than I thought," Tony quipped, gesturing at the motorcycle. Loki touched the dark red of her body fondly and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "There's nothing wrong with her, she's a great bike! Gets me around fast, and petrol’s a whole lot less expensive than a car."

  
"I never said she wasn't.” Tony raised his hands placatingly, deferring to the female pronouns Loki used when addressing his bike. “And she's a Ducati, so I'm not going to argue with your taste either. What model? Come on, come inside before you freeze."

  
“Hypermotard SP from 2010.” Loki followed Tony through the door, and tried not to gasp at the interior of his house. Even though the outside practically screamed “rich” at the top of its lungs, the décor inside made Loki scared to even breathe out of place. He clutched his bike jacket a little tighter. Tony’s house made his flat look like a total dumpster, and it was no cheap flat either. He turned wide eyes on Tony.

  
"Yeah, I didn't know how to mention it, sorry." He looked sheepish and nervous, like he expected Loki to walk out on him. He gave the chandelier one last wondering look before catching Tony's gaze again. "I'm not leaving. I liked you before I knew you, so settle down. Tony," He added.

  
Tony grinned and clapped him on the shoulder and lead him into the kitchen, sweeping a ring of keys into his hand and returning to lock the door.

  
"We're going out." He announced. "Dinner and a movie, like a proper first date. You can leave your jacket here, we’ll be inside pretty much all night.”

  
So that's what all the food choice texts had been about... Loki had just thought that he had started texting a guy with a serious love of food.

  
"Awesome! Where are we going to?"

  
Tony grinned mischievously. "It's a surprise." He grabbed Loki's hand and pulled him towards what must have been the garage, and on the way past whispered in his ear:  
"La Padella. You said you like Italian."

  
Loki held back a shiver at having Tony's mouth so close to him, feeling his breath warm the shell of his ear. It was intoxicating.

  
He was quickly led past four expensive cars before Tony finally unlinked their hands, bowed and opened the door of a fifth for him.

  
"My good sir," He said pompously, and Loki played along, flouncing down into the car seat and holding his hand out with his palm down. Tony shut the door and seized said hand, kissing it tenderly before placing it on the side of the convertible. Loki managed to get his heart rate back to some semblance of normalcy while Tony got in the driver's side, but couldn't stop thinking about the feel of his lips on his hand. He nervously fiddled with the snake curled around his ear, and jumped a little when Tony took his hand as he started the car. He squeezed Tony's hand gently and got an answering squeeze back. They held hands for the duration of the car ride, and Loki felt like the luckiest barista in the city.

  
When they arrived at the restaurant, Tony kept up his charade of the good chauffeur and opened Loki’s door for him before beeping the car keys and watching the roof of the car slide back into place. Loki rolled his eyes and dropped his hand by his side, but couldn’t help feel a little sad that Tony made no move to hold it.

  
They had a table reserved under Stark, and Loki was impressed with Tony’s thinking ahead. They kept catching each others’ eye over the top of their menus while ordering, and a new round of giggling broke out each time. Loki like that Tony laughed easily, and decided there was something distinctly endearing about him. They both decided on a meal and let the waiter take their choices before Tony settled his hands together on the table and leaned forward looking like he meant business.

  
“Okay Loki. I was thinking, basic twenty questions before dinner to get to know each other better? I mean, I know you like Italian food, the colours black and red, snakes, your motorbike – which you refer to in female pronouns -, cream donuts and that you make a mean flat white, but…” He trailed off with a shrug, and Loki couldn’t help but smile. It was all very highschool-esque.

  
“My name is Loki Laufeyson. I was adopted into a family when I was barely old enough to remember, but recently moved out of their house and changed back to my birth name. I have no idea who my real parents were, and have no desire to find out, since I’ve already got an adoptive brother who treats me like his own. I’m twenty-three years old, and I’m working at a café because I like watching people and I needed something to do between the days I have classes at uni, so I figured I may as well do something that’ll earn me cash in my last year. I’m minoring in Chemistry, and going for a BA in English Literature so I can get out of the state and head somewhere new to write. I’m attempting a book, but probably a short novel to get me off the ground before any big writing commitments. I love listening to Van Halen and Poison, I have no allergies and I am openly bisexual.” He finished with a flourish, and leant back in his chair a little while Tony collected himself.

  
“Quite the array of talents, Mr Laufeyson.” He said. “You already know me – I’m Tony Stark. Technically speaking, I’m an orphan because my parents died a few years back in a car accident-”

  
“I’m sorry,” Loki said, an understanding frown pulling his brows down.

  
“S’no big deal. Anyway, I’m twenty-four, I graduated MIT a couple years back with advanced mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, physics, and maths. I’m running my pop’s company now, but it’s a drag so I design new tech for it instead. Love me some AC/DC and Black Sabbath - Poison are good too, you’re right but I’ll go for anything in that department really, as long as it’s not Michael Bublé. I’m allergic to waking up early and board meetings and I too, am bisexual.”

  
Loki nodded dumbly, still processing the list of degrees Tony had, and all from MIT. He felt a little out of his depth, but perked up when Tony reached across to touch his hand gently.

  
“Hey, you okay?”

  
“Hm? Oh, yes, I’m fine. You must be fucking smart as hell then!” Loki forgot that he was in public, but refused to blush when a few nearby patrons turned and gave him looks for his cussing. He usually swore a lot more, and Tony made him more relaxed than he had ever been around most people, and he was a little surprised it had taken him so long to slip up with his tongue.

  
“I guess you could say that,” Tony chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the sides from Loki’s language choice. “I only went to uni to please my pop really, I’d rather sit at home and just build stuff, you know? God, that place was a fucking nightmare. The parties were good though.” Loki laughed outright at that, unable to stop imagining Tony passed out on a dormitory couch somewhere on campus, surrounded by other inebriated students and a pile of beer cans.

  
The conversation continued to flow naturally with them, and Tony played with Loki’s fingers on the table top, never having removed his hand when he got Loki’s attention. He pulled away when a waiter appeared at Loki’s shoulder and placed their respective meals in front of them.

  
Tony had spaghetti and meatballs and Loki, being Loki, had ordered gnocchi. Tony stole a couple of them and Loki retaliated by filching a meatball off his plate when he looked around a bit. Tony wrinkled his nose at him when he realized, and smiled at Loki’s giggles. The rest of their dinner passed without a hitch and afterwards Tony led Loki a short ways down the road to a large cinema, where he paid for them both to enter.

  
Their theater was almost empty, and Tony pulled Loki along so they sat in the middle of the back row. As the opening trailers started rolling, Tony let Loki's hand go from where he had led him through the seats, and again, Loki felt strangely bereft.

  
"I feel like I've known you for months," Tony whispered. "And after only a week of texting! You're so diverse..." He leaned away again into his own seat, and Loki seized his hand in the dark.

  
"I know exactly what you mean."

  
Loki laughed as the title came up on the screen, and could see Tony's smile by the dim glow of the projection. "Pacific Rim? You're good."

  
Tony looked pleased at his praise and settled more comfortably into his chair. "I'm good at reading people I like." Loki didn't miss his sideways look.

  
After the movie, which Loki spent trying to focus because Tony had moved from his hand and instead had idly traced patterns all along his arm to his elbow, Tony seized Loki's hand and stuffed it into his coat pocket as they walked back to the car.

  
Loki spared a glance that was a little more happy than he intended for the girl at the counter, who was watching the two men with something like joyous reverence. She blushed crimson when she saw his smile, and ducked her head, brown shoulder-brushing hair swinging wildly.

  
Tony opened Loki's side of the car for him again, which earned him an eyeroll and Loki's hands folded in his lap, unavailable for kissing. Loki waited in amusement as Tony drove them back to his house, both hands firmly on the wheel in retaliation.

  
"Home again, home again, jiggety jig." Tony muttered as the garage door slid closed behind them. "You got time for a drink before you go?"

  
Loki's warm smile was answer enough. "A drink with you? Of course I've got time. You'd think I'd be sick of them, but there must be something about you, huh?" Tony elbowed him lightly and left him to follow to the kitchen. Loki took his time, admiring the brusque but tasteful decor he hadn't seen on his way out earlier, and found Tony leaning on his kitchen counter, two mugs before him. Only one was steaming.

  
"Coffee or tea? I forgot to ask."

  
"Tea, actually. Kind of poetic, considering my workplace. Chamomile, if you have it." He sat himself down on a bar stool at the opposite side of the kitchen island and watched Tony bustle around his kitchen, pulling teabags from an overhead cupboard and pouring the water into the empty mug. He felt oddly domestic, and laid his hand over Tony's when he pushed his tea across the counter. "So, Mr Stark. Your date go to plan?" Tony started rubbing his thumb in a soothing track across Loki's wrist.

  
"I can't say. It's not over yet." Tony drew his hand away, and Loki pushed away a weird foreboding sense. He needed both hands to drink goddammit, he wasn’t pulling away for fun. Loki smiled gently and drank some of his tea – it was the quality stuff that he bought when he wanted to treat himself. Their after-date drinks were mostly spent in silence without their hands touching, but each man often looking at the other, and in Loki's case, openly staring. He couldn't take his eyes off Tony - his brown smile-creased eyes, his goatee and stubbled lower jaw, but especially the way his lips caressed the edge of his cup whenever he took a pull of coffee.

  
Loki was thankful for his dark lashes as he admired Tony from under them as he took a sip of his own tea. He tried to drink slowly to lengthen their time together, but his mug emptied much faster than he wanted it to.

  
Tony chuckled at his forlorn look. "S'okay. There's always next time, right?"

  
Loki's heart fluttered at the barely-disguised hope in Tony's voice. "Next time." He agreed. Tony's answering smile was brilliant, and Loki was tempted to kiss it from him.

  
Tony cleared away their mugs and retrieved Loki’s jacket from the back of the couch, handing it to him with an almost longing look. “I love leather jackets,” He shrugged at Loki’s questioning look.

  
They walked to the door together, but it was more of an escort to his motorcycle, and Tony didn't bother shutting his front door as they stepped onto the concrete of his driveway.

  
"I had a really fun time tonight, thank you Tony. You… you weren't kidding about next time, were you?"

  
Tony's eyes widened almost comically. "Shit no! I want to see you outside of our coffee dates-" he blushed and cut himself off, and Loki chuckled.

  
"I've been thinking of them as dates too, don't worry. I would love to do this again."

  
"Oh thank god, I was getting clingy for a minute there."

  
Loki stepped closer, and watched various warring emotions play across Tony's face. "You're allowed to be clingy. I don't want to be shared." Tony’s eyes flashed a little in the light spilling from his open front door, and Loki would be lying if he said that the look in them didn’t turn him on a little bit.

  
Loki was never quite sure which of them kissed the other first, but maintained it was a joint effort. His lips met Tony's with an almost bruising force, and he opened his mouth immediately when he felt a tongue brush against his lips. They broke apart after a few moments, and Loki rested his head against Tony's shoulder. "I've thought about that a lot." He admitted. "You taste like I expected you to. Coffee and metal."

  
He felt Tony's chuckle as a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. “I’ve thought about it too. Since I saw you laughing through the window the first day I came in.”

  
Loki sighed, remembering. It had been a good day, that day. Natasha had just spouted the most unexpected and left-field insult and he was clutching his ribs from laughter when his rockstar man walked in for the first time… He got caught up in kissing Tony again, and only stopped when a cold breeze made goosebumps erupt on the arm he had resting on the small of Tony’s back.

  
"I can't stay," He mumbled into Tony's neck, pausing to press a kiss against his pulse. "I have work and class tomorrow."

  
Tony sighed, but let his arms fall, kissing Loki once, twice, ten times.

  
"I'll come see you," He promised, cradling Loki's face.

  
"I know you will. Now get inside before you freeze, and go dream kinky dreams about me." Loki pressed one last chaste kiss to his lips and mounted his bike, pulling his helmet on. He waved as he backed down the gentle slope to the road.

  
"Drive safely you idiot!" Tony yelled as he turned and cruised down the drive. Loki waved again and revved the engine, just to impress Tony and annoy his neighbours before tearing off down the road. He rode home in a blissful state, kicking off his clothes and tossing them in the general direction of the hamper before falling into bed and dreaming of cars and coffee-scented men. He had no doubt that his morning shift at the café would be punctuated with Tony’s smile and perhaps a kiss or two. He was really going to give Natasha something to gripe about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They stood together and Loki shuffled awkwardly, searching for something to say. "Text me, okay?"  
> "What? Of course I will, I'd never-"  
> He was cut off when Loki darted around the table and kissed him, catching hold of the coffee in Tony's hand before he dropped it in surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, it's been a while! At any rate, due to unforseen circumstances (e.g me not being able to write anything that is actually short) I've had to extend this to four chapters, so I hope you like the extra content that's coming up!
> 
> Next update will probably be after my birthday, so early or mid-March.
> 
> Comments and reviews always appreciated!

Loki, not usually an early riser, surprised himself by waking up half an hour before his alarm was due to go off and since he was already awake, filled his extra time by reading one of his assigned books from his English class. 

He progressed through a chapter and a half before the alarm finally rang, turned it off and began his day as normal. It took him until halfway through his toast to remember that he had been on a date with Tony the night before and they had kissed. He whooped gleefully, and subsequently stooped to pick up his toast from where it had fallen on the floor. 

He was seeing Tony in four hours... Four hours until he saw his face, touched his rough palms or - dare he think it? - kiss him again. Loki touched his lips absently, recalling the feel of stubble against his chin and cheeks and the firm press of foreign lips.

He finished his breakfast lovingly, the toast a poor substitute for the lips he craved. He dressed in his customary black shirt and jeans, as well as shoving a spare into his bag along with his books for his afternoon class later that day.

He was seeing Tony in four hours.

\---

It was the longest four hours of Loki's life.

First, the deliveries hadn't arrived when he parked his bike out back, prompting him to swear and startle Steve the delivery guy, just as he pulled in, which then made Loki apologise and assure Steve he wasn't swearing at him because Steve was too goddamn nice to be a delivery guy anyway.

Then he restocked what few shelf items they supplied, shoved a couple of trays of muffins in the oven and then saw that Sif hadn't cleaned the coffee filter from yesterday. 

He then undertook the arduous task of cleaning out dried and hardened coffee grounds, and was halfway through as Natasha breezed in and prepared to open the shop. "Mornin’ Loki."

"Thank god you didn't say good morning or I would have taken out my piercing and stabbed you with it."

Natasha raised her eyebrows and the covers on the display cabinets simultaneously. "Someone's feisty today."

"I'm not 'feisty'. I am overworked and underpaid and Sif needs to get her shit together." Loki tossed his soiled rag into the sink with a wet thud.

"Like I said, feisty." Natasha started the computer at the cash register and leaned against it with a smug air. "So... How'd your date last night go?"

Loki whipped around and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "How do you know about that." 

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you've practically been a lovesick teen for the last week, and Tony gave you his number. Also you've been angling your phone away from me and checking it more and more frequently until now. It makes sense. Spill."

"You know, you should work for the FBI or something."

"Nice try distracting me but no. What happened?"

Loki sighed and pulled his lips together. "He took me out for dinner and a movie, then we had coffee at his place. And we kissed. Multiple times."

Natasha clapped her hands once, loudly. "HAH! Clint owes me fifteen bucks."

Loki scowled fondly. "You know, it's cruel that you make money off a single man's starved love life."

Natasha laughed daintily and patted his arm. "But if not you, who else?"

He swore at her.

They had a ten minute break before official opening time, so Natasha filched a donut from the cabinet while Loki put out a little stock from their orders. He then began rearranging the contents of the chiller before starting to make sandwiches for the cabinet. He wondered what Tony would like on a sandwich... He'd never ordered one before. Loki filed the thought away to ask Tony about later when he arrived.

He heard the muted buzz of voices where Natasha was serving people, and checked his watch. 9:30. Tony would be in soon. He was almost never late, and Loki highly doubted he would pick today to do so. He brushed his hands down on his apron and carried the carefully arranged stack of sandwiches out front. 

He placed them in the display cabinet and shut the glass doors, just as a familiar tuft of artfully gelled hair came into view through the window. 

"Natasha I'll give you twenty bucks to cover me for fifteen minutes." Loki said, voice low.

She looked up as Tony entered, understanding why, then shook her head fondly. "You totally owe me for this. I'm worth more than twenty dollars. Go on lover boy!" 

Loki grinned and frantically set about making Tony's coffee as he sauntered up to the counter. "Hey Loki."

"Hi Tony, you got a minute? Go grab a table, I'll be right over."

Tony looked surprised but nodded. "Okay."

Loki finished the flat white and threw together A tea for himself before weaving quickly between tables to where Tony sat, idly drumming his fingers on the table top. 

"Hey," Loki said breathlessly, sliding in opposite him and tucking some hair behind his ear. He resisted the urge to touch his ear coil at the same time - Tony said he liked it anyway.

"I got Natasha to cover me for a bit. We never get to talk," Loki explained, and Tony nodded, sipping his coffee and smiling gently. 

"What do you want to talk about then?"

Loki paused, caught out. "What would you like to talk about?"

"I thought the movie last night was pretty good... Did you like it?"

Loki brightened immediately. "I loved it! I've been wanting to see Pacific Rim for weeks!..."

The conversation flowed easily between them whether they were discussing the ideal merits of a Kaiju or which upcoming movie looked particularly good, right up until Natasha yelled for him. "Loki! It's been half an hour! I need you back here, there're three toasted sandwiches and a milkshake that need doing, come on!"

There was a smudge of coffee grinds on her face, but Loki didn't have the heart to tell her. He turned back to Tony, an apology on his lips.

"It's fine, you go." He batted his hand and nursed his coffee in one hand. They stood together and Loki shuffled awkwardly, searching for something to say. "Text me, okay?"

"What? Of course I will, I'd never-"

He was cut off when Loki darted around the table and kissed him, catching hold of the coffee in Tony's hand before he dropped it in surprise. 

The kiss was chaste and Loki broke away quickly, smiling. "I've wanted to do that for ages. I'll see you soon, Tony."

He jogged back to the counter and ducked out to the toasted sandwich maker before Tony could say anything. His phone vibrated not long after.

[[ur a asshole bt thts y I like u r u free tonite?]]

Loki replied quickly [[For you? Any time. I'll be around after class, 5ish.]]

[[is tht a d8]]

[[That depends how open you are for listening to me drone on about chemistry.]]

Loki's phone buzzed again quickly.

[[i cld listen to ur voice all day nd not get bored oh nd is makin out allowd]]

Loki chuckled and tapped out a reply before Natasha yelled for the toasted sandwiches.

[[Between paragraphs.]]

He threw ingredients in the blender and turned it on while he pressed three separate sandwiches between the plates of the toasted sandwich maker and had all four items on the counter in record time, flashing a winning smile to the customers before returning to the espresso machine. Coffee was his forte, and from the amount of time he spent making it, it damn well should be. Some of his classmates often remarked on his eternally coffee-scented clothes, and he left them to wonder how they got that way. He was triply glad that no students bothered to venture the long walk to the cafe he worked at.

Loki worked through his lunch break since he was leaving at two, then bid Natasha farewell when the time came. He threw his apron over the hook in the staff room and quickly stripped off his shirt when he got to the parking lot out back, swapping it for a light grey Mötley Crüe one. He shrugged his jacket on and leapt onto his bike, headed for campus. He parked in his usual spot, everyone having learned that if you parked your car there, the dude on the motorcycle would either park right behind or beside you and stop you getting out. Nobody dared to touch his bike. There had been one guy, but he backed off after his lip split.

Loki had an arrangement with Clint who lived on campus - Loki dropped his bike gear there during class, and Clint got a donut out of it. It was an unconventional arrangement, but it worked.

"Hey, Loki, wait up!" Clint bounded out of his room a few moments after Loki had stuck his head in the door and tossed his jacket and helmet onto the couch. "I've got physical science today next to your chem room, I thought I'd tag along. Hey, how was your date anyway?"

The corner of Loki's mouth pulled up. Clint was good company and a good friend, a few years younger than Loki, but he was terrible at subtlety.

"It went really well, dinner and a movie and we had coffee at his place after. And before you ask, yes, and you owe Natasha twenty bucks."

Clint swore and dropped back a few paces before catching up to Loki again and bumping his shoulder good naturedly. "Hey nice work man! You gonna see him again for round two? Hell, why'm I asking, you've been pining for him for weeks, of course you are. When is it?"

Loki shifted his bag on his shoulder and looked away coyly. "Um it's tonight."

"Tonight?" Clint whistled between his teeth. "What've you got planned?"

Loki hefted his bag higher and shook off his embarrassment. "Nothing, really. I'm doing some studying there-"

"Woah woah woah! You can't study romantically, doesn't count as a date if you do. If you're reading books, you can't 'preciate looks." Clint looked at him sternly as he imparted his pearl of wisdom. Loki raised an eyebrow in challenge but Clint didn't back down. "Just saying."

Loki frowned lightly but contemplated it the rest of the way to his class.

When he arrived - slightly late - he fell into his seat and pulled his books into position around him in a semblance of actually paying attention while he toyed with his phone, deciding whether or not to text Tony. He started multiple messages but erased them, unhappy with how they sounded to him. After several minutes of abject frustration and muttered curses which made a couple of girls behind him stir, he settled on the simplest way.

[[I have just been reliably informed that studying does not count as a date. I'm still coming around but in the grand scheme of things, I'm still organizing date number two. I feel cheated, personally.]]

He sent the text and put his phone away, settling in to actually pay attention. When his phone buzzed half an hour later, he pointedly ignored it and continued writing out ionic formulae. He shouldn't check his phone in teaching time, NOT because he as good as turned down a date, it was because he was in class.

Another hour and a half passed until Loki's class was dismissed, whereupon he immediately dug his phone out to check Tony's message.

[[np i cn get dina nd u cn do wat u need 2 i jst wanna c u hw duz takeout snd]]

Loki huffed a laugh and sent off a reply before grabbing his stuff from Clint's dorm.

[[Takeout sounds great. I'll be over in a few.]]

He pulled on his helmet and kicked his bike into life. He roared away from campus with a bout of butterflies that had nothing to do with a test they had been told to prepare for next week.

\----

Loki's arrival was preceded by the guttural sound of his motorcycle as he pulled into Tony's driveway. He pulled his helmet off and shook his hair out, arranging it more comfortably on his shoulders and pushing stray tendrils off his face. It also served to neaten his helmet-head. Tony was leaning in his open doorway when Loki looked up, a wry sort of crooked smile on his face.

"What?"

Tony's grin widened to show his teeth in his glee. "Just thinking how unfairly ruffled you looked. You ever considered going for a spin without a helmet and watching peoples' reaction to the effect?"

"But Mr Stark!" Loki said with mock horror, staying on the step below Tony. "Are you suggesting I break the law to watch how my appearance affects the emotions of the general populace?"

"Absolutely I am. And cool it with the vocabulary before I jump you in the doorway."

Loki grinned and pushed up onto the stoop, close to Tony who straightened and continued to eye Loki's hair. Loki watched amusedly as Tony's hand twitched upwards, like he wanted to push his fingers through it.

"Have I missed a bit? I can't see, so you can fix it."

Tony met Loki's eyes and knew he'd been caught out, a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth. His eyes flicked away to Loki's hair again as his hand drew closer to Loki's temple. Loki closed his eyes as Tony's fingers brushed against the first few strands, but pried them open again to watch his expression.

The slightly-open-mouthed, bright eyed wonder on Tony's face made something punch in Loki's chest, and he gripped the wrist of the hand Tony had in his hair.

"Loki?" Tony said, a note of worry in his voice. He drew his hand away from Loki's face, but Loki kept hold of his wrist.

"We should go in before I jump you in the doorway." Loki said, one eyebrow raised as he mimicked Tony's words.

Tony grinned mischievously. "Wouldn't want to scandalise the neighbours."

Loki laughed and let Tony lead him through the door, pushing it shut with his foot. They stumbled into the kitchen where Loki tugged Tony closer to him and kissed him, pulling away just as Tony tried to open his mouth into it. 

"Sorry Mr Stark, but I've got work to do and you'd only distract me. You've got a paragraph to wait before the next one."

"Aw come on Loki! That's only like our third kiss, I deserve something substantial for not following you home from work at least."

"Oh please, you wouldn't. You'd be too scared that I would lead you around town and then vanish into the traffic, have fun chasing a bike through that."

"Your lack of faith wounds me." Tony said, leaning his hip on the counter. Loki darted in and kissed his pout. 

"Perhaps, but your big mouth is going to get you into all sorts of trouble. Someone had to knock you down a few pegs."

"You could've just kissed some sense into me, I'm not exactly going to object am I?"

Loki turned his back and walked to Tony's living room, leaving his bag next to the couch after divesting it of a hefty stack of books which he placed on the coffee table. He intended to use it to read on, stretching his legs out on the floor in front of it. 

"You might," Loki countered as he lowered himself to rest his back against the front edge of the couch. "Knowing you, you'd be as difficult as you could, just for fun."

Tony moved to hover near him. "I wouldn't complain about you, man. I like you too much."

Loki snorted lightly and turned a page. "Your blatant flattery will get you nowhere. Didn't you say you were getting dinner?" He asked pointedly. 

Tony sighed and returned to the kitchen, grumbling about overly-studious men and how taxing they were on those around them. Loki almost tore his page out when he heard 'boyfriend' in the mix.

He'd never really given much thought to naming their relationship: in some small corner of his mind, Tony was still Rockstar Man, the overly attractive guy who had by some turn of fate managed to stumble into Loki's corner of the world. After their awkward half attempts at pushing the other into acting, they had fallen into an easy way of doing things. They constantly communicated, and regularly saw each other around Loki's work and college classes. He supposed what they were doing was dating - he was planning a second official date after all - but hadn't grasped the concept that he and Tony were actually already in a functioning relationship. It was tentative, each not wanting to give too much or seem too desperate for the other, but Tony's good-natured complaints about not kissing him and his mumbling about boyfriends had struck Loki somewhere in his sternum.

They were dating. Actually dating.

Loki had a boyfriend. 

He didn't even realize.

"Loki, y'okay there?" 

Tony's voice broke through to Loki's conscious, and he dimly registered that he was back in the kitchen before taking the tea towel out of Tony's hands and kissing him soundly. There was a small noise of surprise before Tony leaned into it properly, opening his mouth and getting what Loki had earlier denied him. He wasn't entirely sure how long they stood in the kitchen joined at the lips, but when they parted, Loki's hands were at Tony's neck and waist and Tony had to remove his hand from the tangle of his hair. Loki rested his forehead against Tony's, sharing the same space and breath, chests heaving like they had sprinted a mile side by side.

"Are we boyfriends?" Loki asked breathlessly. He realized how naïve he sounded and wasn't much surprised when Tony suddenly barked a laugh. Loki laughed with him for a few moments before they calmed, his fingers stroking gently in the short strands of hair at the base of Tony's skull. "If we had to name this - us, are we boyfriends?" Loki pressed. He knew it himself but needed confirmation from Tony.

Brown eyes held his own, searching. He wasn't sure what they found, but the edges of them crinkled happily, and Loki felt rather than saw Tony's small smile.

"If not that then what else?" Tony said, hand fitted snugly on Loki's shoulder.

"Do you want us to be?" Loki said after a short pause.

Tony's eyes widened and his hand gripped Loki's shoulder tighter. "Yes! Fuck yes, Loki, more than you kno-"

He was cut off by another kiss as Loki claimed his lips, tasting them as officially his own for the first time. Tony didn't even try to finish, choosing instead to wind his hand back into Loki's hair and keep him close.

After their makeout session Loki settled back down in front of the coffee table to get some real work done. He was content with the rate at which he was progressing, the sound of Tony clattering around his kitchen in the background oddly comforting to him. Tony emerged some time later and placed a plate of fried rice, black bean chow mein and sweet and sour pork by Loki's elbow.

"Did you make this?" He said, surprise colouring his voice as he noticed a few spring rolls poking out from under the rice.

"I'm wounded by the shocked tone," Tony said, "but no, takeout like I said I would." 

Loki looked at his plate for a few more moments before pulling it in front of him. "I didn't even hear you get the door..."

"You were really into your reading, I didn't want to interrupt. You get this crease between your eyebrows, it's so cu-" 

"So help me Tony Stark if you say 'cute' I'll poison your next coffee."

\---

Shortly after Loki gave up on the coffee table and moved onto the couch with Tony, who was also reading, it started to rain. Loki jackknifed off from where his head had been resting in Tony's lap and sprinted to the door.

"My bike's outside!" He shouted, sprinting down into the deluge and kicking the stand down on his bike. He didn't know what he was going to do with her, but he had to get her out of the-

"Loki! In here!" Tony waved his arms from the mouth of the garage, rain blowing in and making him squint his eyes. Loki made a beeline towards him, running next to his bike with both hands on her handlebars. He slowed down when he reached the dry light of the garage, resting the bike on her stand again.

"Thanks," he said, a little breathlessly. "Do you have a rag I can use to wipe the seat?"

Tony's feet disappeared from his view, then quickly reappeared, coupled by the hum of the garage door closing. Tony held out a sloppily folded square of material to him, and he took it gratefully, drying the seat of his bike. "You didn't have to," he said quietly.

"What, open the garage? Just because I didn't have to doesn't mean I shouldn't have. Obviously your bike means a lot to you, I wasn't going to let you search for someplace else to put it or just go home." 

Loki straightened up and twisted the rag between his hands. "She does mean a lot. Hel was the first thing I bought when I was old enough to start college. She was like a present to myself, something to remind me that I was me and wasn't governed by things other people thought." He smiled ruefully. "She was my first truly tangible act of defiance."

Loki grinned at Tony, who nodded in understanding. "S'like me with DUM-E. He was the first thing I built that they told me I couldn't. Guess we both have a thing for authority huh?"

Loki chuckled and followed Tony when he led them out of the garage. Tony took the rag and tossed it in a washing basket on the way back to the couch, where he promptly curled back up in his previous spot. Loki sat next to him, leaning into his shoulder and the crook of warmth it provided.

"So... Since it's raining out, I was wondering if- um... You don't have to, of course, but uh... There's a spare too, I'm not asking you that! But yeah, if you wanted to..."

Loki watched him struggle with getting the words out, amusement growing. "Tony Stark. Are you asking me to stay over?" Loki's eyes danced as he watched Tony awkwardly rub a hand across the back of his neck.

"I- uh... Yeah, I am."

Loki took his chances and craned his neck to kiss Tony beneath his ear. "You have a way with words Mr Stark. I'm compelled to stay." He felt Tony's smile from where their cheeks touched, and his own lips turned up in response. "It's a bit cold for spare beds though, don't you think?" He said nonchalantly.

Tony turned his head to kiss Loki's temple and grinned. "One has to be polite to one's guest and offer them every option."

"One's guest doesn't want said option so suck it up." Loki retorted, surreptitiously snuggling further into Tony's neck. It was a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the other man.

"If you keep doing that I'm not even going to offer you a bed, and I'll end up sleeping right here." Loki ignored him and dragged his nose across the skin of Tony's neck, placing small kisses in his wake.

"Carry me, you'll spare us both, then."

Tony arched away a little and fixed Loki with one eye before pulling him into his lap and heaving forwards, lifting Loki with his arms under the backs of his thighs. Loki quickly wrapped his legs around Tony's waist to get them out of the way, and nosed into the hair behind Tony's ear, breathing deeply like he was trying to inhale his scent and keep the moment forever. 

Tony easily hefted Loki down the hall, almost pausing outside the spare bedroom, but remembered himself when Loki lightly nipped his neck in disagreement.

“You’re like a sloth, Loki,” Tony said quietly, as he bumped Loki’s back into the lightswitch to give them some light to move by. “You told me you were coming here to study, you liar.” He chuckled and Loki rubbed his cold nose behind his ear, making him jump a little. 

Tony set him down on the edge of the bed and ducked under the circle of Loki’s arms to free himself. “I’ve got clothes you can wear to sleep in, and there’s a toothbrush in the second drawer down in the bathroom cabinet.” Tony said, pulling open several drawers and tossing multiple items at Loki, who caught them by the tips of his fingers. “Those should fit you, so wear what you want to. Um… I’ll give you some privacy. Knock on the door when you’re done.” Tony spoke to his feet, darting into the ensuite bathroom to grab his toothbrush then practically sprinting back out in to the hall before Loki could say a word to stop him.

Loki first made his way to the bathroom just off Tony’s bedroom, and found the toothbrush exactly where he had been told it was. He took a moment to look around, appreciating the space for it’s aesthetic arrangement. The bathroom was black floor tile, leading down a short slope to where the shower was. Tony’s shower was by far big enough for two, and Loki hastily snuffed out several thoughts that cropped up along that vein. A raging boner was the last thing he needed when he was brushing his teeth to sleep – sleep – next to his boyfriend. He gained a strange sense of satisfaction when he placed his toothbrush in the empty holder, Tony having taken his own with him when he left Loki alone. It made him feel like he was permitted here, was allowed to be in Tony’s life, but most of all, it made him feel like he was allowed to return, that him having a toothbrush meant he was expected to come back. He intended to live up to said expectation.

Stepping out of the black-tiled bathroom he returned to the bed and inspected the clothes Tony had supplied him with. There were several shirts and pants to choose from, and Loki finally settled on a loose black band shirt several sizes too big for him, leaving off the pyjama shorts. He preferred sleeping in just his boxers, if anything.

Ready for bed, Loki knocked on the door a few times to let Tony know, then proceeded to the bed. He paused uncertainly, unsure whether to get in and make himself comfortable, or wait for Tony and see which side he was allowed to sleep on. He was spared the choice when Tony slowly opened the door, giving Loki time to call out for him to stop if he needed it. When Tony finally entered the room with him, Loki gave him a small smile, and shrugged towards the bed in explanation. “I wasn’t sure which side you preferred.” Tony shook his head at him, and Loki’s smile grew wider.

“I don’t have one really, I just kind of fall into bed and use whichever pillow I land closest to. Jump in though, you can be my right hand man if it makes you feel better about not choosing.” Tony swerved around him to the left side of the bed, his hand brushing Loki’s waist gently as he passed, and Loki let out an inaudible sigh at his caress.

The bed was as soft as it looked, and Loki couldn’t help but sigh again as he pulled the sheets and duvet up, letting himself sink into the mattress. It was good quality, and much better than anything else he’d ever experienced bedwise. Oh yes, he was going to find as many excuses to stay over at Tony’s place as possible. He turned his head to find Tony, and snorted when he realized what the other man was wearing.

“Ninjas? Really?” Tony was shirtless, but his dark blue boxers were festooned with cartoon ninjas in various poses of battle, all wielding swords in what had to be a dangerous way.

“Shut up, they were a present from a friend. I’m pretty sure he thinks I chucked them out, but they’re actually pretty comfortable.” He explained, sliding in next to Loki, but leaving a good thirty centimetres between them.

“I’m not going to judge you, I swear. I have a pair of pants somewhere with goats all over them from Thor. He won me this helmet in an arcade game that I hardly ever took off, and he used to joke that it made me look like a cow with the horns on it. I told him it was more like a goat, so he got me goat pants for my birthday, and told me if I wore them then he wouldn’t get confused between a goat and a cow.” Loki chuckled fondly.

“Did you wear them?”

He laughed more heartily then. “God no, I wasn’t stupid! I think I wore them maybe once or twice to humour him, but figured out pretty quickly that bright green pants with farm animals on them didn’t make you the height of trendiness in school.” Loki felt the mattress quake a little as Tony joined in his laughing.

“Oh man, I can just see you there with your schoolbag and everything…”

“Glasses too.”

“No way! You’re kidding me.” Tony rolled over onto his side to stare at him disbelievingly. 

“True story. I was really shortsighted as a kid, but it rectified as I got older, as well as the freaky complexion. Sometimes puberty can be kind.”

“Man, it must have been fucking ecstatic when it dealt with you…” Tony said quietly, reaching over to run his fingers down the straight line of Loki’s nose, then trace the curve of his cheekbone. He huffed a breath onto Tony’s fingers, but let the other man do as he wanted for a few moments. He pulled back and sat up, quickly removing the large shirt after feeling it ruck up against his back, and he knew that if he left it on it would just annoy him in the night. Loki smirked when Tony whistled as he balled up the shirt and tossed it towards the chest of drawers.

“Don’t get any ideas, you. Consider yourself unfortunate that I’m still wearing boxers.” Loki said smugly, rearranging himself under the covers.

“I could take mine off if you like? Then I’d be… Stark naked.” 

There was a tense pause in which Tony’s mouth quivered, then Loki let out an amused snort, prompting Tony to release his laughter again.

“Did you just- oh my God, you’re horrible. I can’t believe I agreed to this – a fucking pun about your name for chrissakes…!” Loki shook his head fondly, and regained his breath slowly, but Tony wasn’t done.

“I promise I won’t make it again, as long as you keep it… low-key!” He gasped, and Loki smacked him playfully in the shoulder.

“Shut up before I kick you out of your own bed. Go the fuck to sleep Tony.” 

Eventually the short-haired man calmed down and relaxed into the bed. It was strange to Loki, having a body so close to him that he could feel the heat coming off it - Strange, but not unpleasant. He was acutely aware of the small distance between his hand and Tony’s, the two limbs closer than any other, and he wanted to touch Tony, but wasn’t sure if he could get away with it without being sexual. 

“Loki. Stop thinking so much.” Tony murmured, his voice scratchy from near sleep.

“Sorry,” Loki whispered back. “I’m not used to sharing a bed. What if I hog the blanke-?”

Tony cut him off with a lazy kiss that proved very effective. Loki stopped thinking much at all when Tony’s lips touched his, and instead let his arm drape naturally over Tony’s waist when the other man shuffled closer so that their knees were brushing.

“Don’t worry about it. Just go to sleep.” Tony whispered encouragingly, placing another small kiss between Loki’s brows to smooth them. Loki didn’t bother replying, but instead let himself get comfortable in the warmth Tony provided, and the steady drum of another heartbeat as it lulled him to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Loki, calm down! I just wondered. But like I said, there's a race on next week at a dirt track just out of the city. I told the guy I knew someone who might be interested, cause there's a cash prize for the winner. You game?"
> 
> Loki grinned. "Dirt on my tires is just what I need. I'm in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, due to my incapability to write short things, I've had to extend the chapter count to five. 
> 
> [This](http://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport/products/modelgallerylib/66/1/1/gallery.aspx#) is Loki's dirt bike.
> 
> Side note: Don't ride dirt bikes on public roads unless you have plates, regulation tires, an engine under 50cc and headlights. It's not rocket science, don't be an idiot. While we're at it, I don't own any rights to Yamaha Motor Sports.

When Loki woke the next morning, he assumed it was before sunrise due to the arm wrapped around him, but didn't see the faint light around the blinds and let himself stay cocooned in the warmth of the bed while he still could. He loathed that when he woke up next, Tony would be gone, so pressed a kiss to his hand and rolled over to plant one on his forehead. He was almost glad that Tony wasn't conscious to witness his sappy display, but also a little sad that he wouldn't be awake to see Tony off. He shook his head to dispel his thoughts, and let sleep take him again. He wasn't quite sure if he imagined the tender press of lips to the back of his neck or not.

The next time he woke, it was much more slowly. Loki let the light wake him, as opposed to getting himself up properly. There was a ray of light filtering through a gap in the blind over the skylight that struck him near his belly button, illuminating the room dimly and he let his eyes flicker open to watch the dust motes in it. The ray was bright enough now that it was noticeable behind his closed eyelids, and his hand lay in it, relaxed. It twitched. Loki frowned at it, still dazed from sleep. He hadn't done that consciously. Said hand then clenched itself before settling more comfortably over his stomach.

This was _not_ his hand.

He resisted the urge to bolt upright, but instead followed the arm it belonged to, his muscles tightened in wariness until his eyes came to rest on Tony's face. Loki huffed his breath out in mild exasperation. Tony would surely be late for work now, how late he had no idea, as Tony's shoulder shielded his clock from view. He assumed it couldn’t be too bad if Tony hadn’t set an alarm to wake himself, and pushed the thought from his mind.

Loki let his eyes wander over the skin left exposed above the duvet, taking note of several smaller sunspots on the top of Tony's shoulders, souvenirs from his penchant for muscle tees when he worked outdoors. He wasn't overly tan - spending almost all day in an office building probably didn't help - but rather his skin had a natural copper tone to it, giving the curve of his bicep a burnished look like pale bronze where the sun struck it. Loki stretched forward and kissed the line of Tony's nose, and smiled gently when his lashes beat a frantic dance against his cheek. Loki let their faces lie almost nose to nose, studying the structure of his boyfriend's face in greater detail. He loved that he could call Tony that now, as well as adoring every millimetre of him, seen and unseen, and Loki was going to waste no time committing all of him to memory. 

Tony snuffled softly when Loki started toying with his hair, letting his fingers scratch ever so lightly against Tony's scalp on every fourth stroke. He watched attentively as the brown eyes struggled open, Tony fighting his way into consciousness with a gentle sigh that caressed Loki's lips.

"I never want to wake up any other way," Tony mumbled, the low pitch of his voice scratchy from sleep. Loki smiled more widely and kissed him, slow and close-mouthed (he was conscious of possible morning breath more than ever today) and let Tony wake up to him properly.

"That can be arranged." He said, brushing their noses together. Loki wasn't sure where his tenderness had sprung from, and honestly didn't care. It felt nice. "So, what's for breakfast, hostess with the mostess?" He asked, the corners of his eyes crinkling with his smile.

Tony pretended to look thoughtful as he propped himself up on one elbow and tapped his chin, though the effect was marred by his hair in a disarray from sleep and Loki’s fingers. "Hmm, I'm not sure if I've got anything actually... I'll just have to eat you instead." He sighed woefully and lunged down, rolling himself on top of Loki and claiming his lips, both pairs curving upwards in glee. Loki revelled in the feel of their bare chests together and wound his arms around Tony's lower back, one hand idly making a path on the skin at the bottom of his spine. Tony sighed quietly into the kiss, and it became less frantic and playful, more relaxing. Tony detached his mouth and applied it elsewhere, leaving a trail of kisses along Loki's jawline to nibble lightly at the bolt of his jaw. Loki arched his neck in delight and Tony took advantage of this to kiss the cords of muscle pulling tight in Loki's neck. It was worshipful and deliberate, both exploring: Tony with his mouth, and Loki with his nimble fingers, one of which occasionally dipped beneath the waistband of Tony's boxers to tease him.

"Stop it," Tony growled, frowning lightly. "Don't tease unless you plan to deliver on it." He accompanied his words with a roll of his hips that sent Loki's hand up to his shoulder to scrabble for purchase. The minimal friction was like an electric current to his brain, so overwhelmed at having his boyfriend so close and obviously willing, from what he felt, if only Loki wanted to have him. He was sure Tony could feel his half-hard arousal from where his hips rested just off centre between Loki's legs, but couldn't find it in himself to be embarrassed about it.

"I'll keep that in mind for future reference," he said finally regaining his composure, though he could still feel the heat of a blush high on his cheekbones. Tony smirked and rolled his hips again, a menacing spark in his eyes when Loki gasped and dug his fingers into the flesh of Tony's shoulder. He recovered quickly though and lifted his hips to change the angle, of their rut and Tony slumped forwards with a tiny surprised "oh!"

"You should learn to practice what you preach," Loki said, voice rougher than he expected. Tony's eyes fluttered where they were half open, and he gave no resistance when Loki carefully pitched him sideways to land next to him on the bed. "I, for one, plan to deliver in kisses." He announced, and set about learning the contours of Tony's face underneath his lips.

"Well," Tony said when Loki's mouth had moved away from his own, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a _little_ disappointed, but this works too."

Loki promptly pulled back and pouted. "Ungrateful bastard." He rolled sideways and planted his feet on the floor, facing away from Tony who was still on his side in the bed. He leaned forwards to get some clothes off the floor, but startled when he felt cold fingers gently touching his back.

"I like it," Tony said quietly, and the bed dipped as he scooted closer, fingers trailing across Loki's skin. "Why'd you get it?"

Loki turned his head so that he could see the dark tendrils of the top of his tattoo and blinked slowly. He often forgot that it was there, such a part of him as it was. It had completely fled his mind the night before, and the topic had never come up before. 

"Personal significance. It's the Yggdrasil, what the Norse called the World Tree. It makes up our universe, and the branches hold the planets on which we and other races supposedly live. I was named after one of the Norse gods, and my birth mother sent me trinkets from that culture when I was younger... I like the idea of it. I like that we are all of the same roots, yet every branch has something different to hold, and from there on no two leaves are the same… You probably think I'm stupid for it," Loki reached for his pants again, but a warm mass against his back stopped him once more. Tony had draped himself over Loki's back and rested his chin in the hollow of his collarbone, their cheeks touching.

"On the contrary, I think you're brave to get something you believe in placed on you permanently." Tony noticed another dark spot on Loki's hip from where his chin was rested and touched it with his fingertips. "More ink? What other secrets are you hiding from me?" Tony pulled him back down to the mattress and pinned his hips to inspect the snake tattooed on his skin there. "Reason behind this one being...?"

Loki shrugged, grinning. "I like snakes."

Tony barked a startled laugh and towed Loki to the edge of the bed with him to find clothes. "And here I thought you were going to tell me this great meaningful backstory," Tony chuckled, pulling on a pair of loose sweats.

"Nothing so complicated. I like snakes, so I got one. You should see the ink on my thighs, but we’ll save that for later." Loki said, leaving a gaping Tony to follow his boxer-clad legs to the kitchen.

They made breakfast together, Loki trying to hurry Tony along until he explained that as the head of the company, he wasn't actually expected to come in every day. 

"My staff started questioning me about it actually, asking me where my sudden studiousness had come from... I needed a good excuse to see you." He shrugged off handedly, and pushed the eggs around the pan a bit. "My PA thought it was weird too, she started threatening to make me go to meetings if I kept turning up on time." He gave a fake shudder on the word meetings, and Loki wrapped his arms around Tony's waist fondly.

"As long as I'm not getting you into trouble-"

"You're not."

"-then I suppose I could just go straight from here to class instead of going home early. Does that suit you?"

Tony looked incredulously over his shoulder, almost kissing Loki from the proximity of their faces. "Do I look like I have stuff planned? It's nine thirty AM and I'm wearing only sweats and cooking eggs. The only thing on my to do list is spend time with you."

"Aww, how cute," Loki let out a very unmanly giggle at the indignant scowl on Tony's face, then unwound his limbs to hand Tony two plates to put the eggs on, which he was rewarded for in small kisses. In Loki's opinion, kisses were by far the best incentive.

The remainder of their time together was spent by giving Loki his official tour if the house and making out on the couch with a movie on to pretend like that wasn't the intention all along. 1:40 rolled around much too fast for either's liking, and Tony gave Loki a rather long parting kiss, as well as anointing his helmet with one too before waving him off on his motorcycle. Loki waved back at him, and laughed when he felt his phone vibrate some minutes later, in what would undoubtedly be a critical message from Tony about his recklessness.

The two o'clock literature class passed Loki by almost without him realizing. He took notes the whole time, but wasn't really processing what was going on, too caught up in his own thoughts. He couldn't stop thinking back to the night before when Tony had offered up his bed for Loki to sleep in, but hadn't pressured him for sex. He hadn't even _mentioned_ sex, just left Loki to it, and other than their impromptu morning wood grind session, nothing incredibly sexual had gone on between them. Loki was thankful for that, reluctant as he was to say that he would prefer to wait until a better time. He wasn't frigid by any means, but simply didn't put out on the first date.

He was so absorbed he almost ran into Clint to pick up his helmet from the dorm.

"Woah there, you're looking to bust a head in if you walk around like that! What's got you up in space?" Clint asked, bashing Loki's shoulder with his own.

Loki smirked down at him before replying loftily, "I slept with him."

“ _Dude!_ You got _laid_ last night? Damn! You got game, man."

Loki laughed uproariously at that, not caring that several people had turned around to level incredulous and vaguely repulsed looks at Clint for his loud words.

"No, no, nothing like that, we actually _slept_ , like, just shared a bed. It was really nice." 

"You got it bad, man. You were practically _on_ the booty and didn't go for it? You're _toast_."

Loki elbowed Clint's door open and fell onto the couch next to his helmet. "Shut up."

Loki was going to kill Clint for laughing at his misfortune, as soon as he could drag himself away from the surprisingly comfortable couch.

"Hey, also, you still got that other bike? Not the Ducati, the dirt bike, cause I found you a race next week if you do."

Loki's head shot up, his face an interesting mix of confusion, elation and incredulity. "What do you mean 'do I still have it', of course I have it! I wasn't going to sell a perfectly good bike that I still rode-"

"Loki, calm down! I just wondered. But like I said, there's a race on next week at a dirt track just out of the city. I told the guy I knew someone who might be interested, cause there's a cash prize for the winner. You game?"

Loki grinned. "Dirt on my tires is just what I need. I'm in."

Clint clapped his hands once, like he had sealed a bargain between them. "Awesome! I'll tell Matt you're gonna come-"

"Matt Murdoch?"

"Well yeah, how many guys named Matt do you know who race motorcycles?"

Loki leaned back on the cushions again. "Two. One is a dickhead who I punched in the mouth before he moved to South Dakota and the other is Matt Murdoch. What's he doing holding a race after his accident?"

Clint shrugged, fetching a beer from the fridge. He inclined it questioningly at Loki, who shook his head.

"No clue. He spent a lot of time away though, reckons it doesn't matter that he's blind, he's still good to race. Apparently nobody wants to compete with him because then reckon he'll lose by default. He gets really up in arms about disability now."

Loki nodded. He'd broken his arm once, a long time ago. It had been incredible, the difference with which people had treated him. He reasoned it must be so much worse with a permanent disability and though not seeing, still being able to _imagine_ the pity on peoples' faces.

"I can understand that... Go tell Murdoch he's on. I'll race him. Reputations were made to be disproved, were they not?"

"That they were. I'll call him tonight. Now fuck off, I'm gonna go get roaringly drunk and win money in darts competitions. Fuck the system and their 'bows are dangerous weapons' viewpoint, it’s not like I’m gonna kill anyone with it, god. Do you know how expensive tips that sharp are?" Clint kicked him lightly in the hip, making Loki frown before he unfolded himself from the couch and tucked his helmet under his arm as he left the dorm.

He returned to his own apartment that night, tempted as he was to return to the cozy warmth of Tony's house, but his homework had begun to pile and being around Tony was directly counterproductive to Loki getting work done. Several books submitted easily to his will, and at the early hour of 11pm he left his kitchen table strewn with papers and fell into bed fully clothed. He regretted it in the morning when he had to peel his jeans from his legs and try to work feeling back into them before tossing on a new pair of pants and heading to Café Black for the mid morning shift with Sif. Natasha came in for relief at two, meaning that Loki was spared the catastrophe of Sif's company. Natasha's vein of questioning about his night was much along the same line as Clint's, except much more subtle and tactful, and Loki gave her more specific answers. Clint got the essentials and Natasha got the premium version, both got what they wanted to hear so Loki didn't mind either way.

Due to it being Friday, Tony didn't come in for a coffee, and this one factor seemed to make Loki's shift move at a crawl until closing time, whereupon he threw his apron into the laundry and rode back to his apartment to turn on the central heating and curl up on the couch and watch cheesy sci-fi movies under a quilt. He got a few minutes in and mildly comfortable until Clint text him and asked him if he wanted to come to one of the jock parties, which he declined. He was set for a night in of sci-fi and texting his boyfriend. 

Between movies Loki made himself a bowl of two minute noodles after deciding to save money and not call for pizza, and was just about to settle back down when his buzzer went. Confused, he pushed back the deadbolt and cracked his door open.

"Hello?"

"Oh thank god, it is you! Hurry up and let me in, I'm freezing my balls off out here."

"Tony?"

"Yes it's me, come on!"

Slightly stunned, Loki shut the door to unlock the chain and let him in. "How'd you find the apartment?" He asked as Tony hurried past him into the depths of his living room.

"Combination of your phone's location and some guy called Clint who apparently knows me." Tony glanced around and took in the rumpled quilt and steaming bowl of noodles. "Movie night?"

Loki shuffled his feet bashfully and scooted around Tony to the kitchen. "Yeah, Friday nights are lazy nights. You want some noodles? I'm afraid my place isn't exactly the height of culinary efficiency tonight, but I have chicken or beef flavours to choose from at least."

"Chicken noodles sound great," he said, and Loki believed him. There was something about movies and noodles that just went hand in hand.

Two minutes later, Loki handed Tony his bowl of noodles and took up his previous position on the couch, only this time he spread the quilt to cover Tony too.

"Sorry, the heating in here isn't that great, so having quilts lying around is second nature to me. Consider yourself honoured that I didn't answer the door wrapped in one."

Tony chuckled and pressed one cold foot against Loki's leg, making him accidentally slurp a lot of noodle juice. "Bastard," he muttered, but settled in closer to Tony anyway.

As it turned out, Tony wasn't averse to any particular movie type and was content to watch The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy with Loki, chuckling along at it together. Loki let himself shuffle down to fit into the crook of Tony's arm, which he moved to accommodate Loki's body, then took advantage if by playing with his hair. By the end of the movie, Loki was worked up enough to pounce in Tony almost before the credits had started rolling.

"Do you know how _distracting_ you are?" He growled, seizing Tony's lips with his own, their empty bowls rattling on the floor as he bumped them with his foot. Tony smiled against his mouth and eventually it grew so wide that Loki couldn't maintain the kiss any more, instead resting their foreheads together while Tony laughed it off.

"So what you're saying is you don't want me touching your hair anymore?" Tony managed once he quieted down. Loki's outraged frown at his question drew another laugh from him, and Loki resigned to his fate and sat back to commit the expression to memory. 

"You're not funny," he said smacking Tony's arm. A teasing glint crept into his eye, which Tony failed to notice. "People like you don't deserve warm quilts." This was all the warning he gave before standing and ripping the material off Tony, wrapping it around himself and running into the kitchen like a human burrito, laughing madly the whole time. Tony's startled yelp at the temperature change turned into a groan of regret as he was forced to hurry through the door to retrieve his source of warmth. Loki hovered on the far side of his tiny kitchen table, inching around to one side in the hopes of drawing Tony after him. It worked, and as Tony ran for the far side Loki darted around the near corner and back into the living room. He avoided the couch and instead ran for his bedroom, turning to barricade the door but getting an armful of Tony instead.

"You're so cruel, I don't even know why I put up with you!" Tony said as he tipped them onto the bed and tried to pry the quilt off Loki, who had resolutely rolled onto the edges of it to pin it beneath him. 

"It's because I'm pretty and I make your coffee."

"More like you're goddamn beautiful and you always smell heavenly."

Loki chuckled and lifted his shoulders as Tony tugged, letting him think he'd won by pulling the quilt out. The other man's body filled the space next to his under the thick material, their legs tangling together, feet rubbing to share warmth and Loki knew who the _real_ winner was.

"Will you stay?" Loki asked quietly, more than a little nervous. Compared to Tony, even with all the possessions in his apartment he had nothing.

Tony smiled into his neck. "It's only fair, don't you think? You used my milk so now I get to use yours."

Pressed as he was against Loki's neck, Tony missed seeing his blinding smile, but felt the feather-light kiss against his hair. "Good."

A few minutes passed in which Loki explored Tony's back with the hand that wasn't holding Tony's, until the shorter man mumbled sleepily: "Loki, y'gotta stop or 'm gonna go t' sleep."

"Come along then, let's go get cleaned up." 

Loki scrounged up a spare toothbrush for him, and by the time he returned from using the bathroom Tony was already in his bed, curled up around himself. Loki smiled fondly and slipped in beside him, his addition making Tony gravitate towards him until his short hair was tickling Loki's chin from where he had effectively wrapped himself around Loki's body. He dug out his phone to text Clint, asking for confirmation of the race date, which he had forgotten to get the day before.

[[Sender: CLINT  
ey its sunday out @ th old mill u kno th place aprntly]]

[[I do, I've raced there before. The first corner is loose on the edge if I remember. Thank you Clint. And grammar, come on, we've talked about this.]]

[[ur welcm soz nt soz]]

Loki sighed and tossed his phone in the general direction of his dresser, not caring where it landed. He made a mental note to himself to make Tony aware of the race in the morning.

\---

When Tony finally joined Loki in the kitchen the next morning, he already had his meagre cereal choices set out on the counter and half a batch of pikelets cooked and covered on a plate next to him while he flipped the other lot. Loki heard the scuffing noise as Tony stumbled a bit on the linoleum, his feet sticking to the plastic tiles.

"Loki, it's the asscrack of dawn, why aren't you still in bed?" He demanded mulishly, dropping into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Tony, it's seven thirty AM. More than half of our country is awake by now yet I am cooking you breakfast and you insist on complaining."

“You weren’t this grouchy when you stayed with me… maybe you should stay more often.”

“As nice as that is of you, I’m not grouchy. I speak the cold hard truth when I say you are far too used to waking up when you please.” Loki announced flatly, approached the table and pressed his lips to Tony’s temple as he pushed several of the cooked pikelets onto his plate. “But yes, staying more often sounds wonderful. Anyway, what are you doing tomorrow?” He asked, straightening up.

Tony chewed leisurely before swallowing and reaching for the butter. “Nothing, at the moment. You got something planned?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. Clint talked to me yesterday and there’s a bike race on just out of town at a track I know. You want to come?”

“You ask that like there’s any chance I could say no to you going fast on a machine, probably wearing leather. Are you blind or just unaware?” Tony retorted around a mouthful of pikelet. Loki whacked him upside the head with the spatula for it.

“Watch it, or I’m not going to tell you where it is. It’s a money race too, so hopefully there’ll be some other people competing since I told the guy I’d race – he’s blind, so a lot of people don’t want to put them or him in that much danger, thrill-seekers though you think we bikers are.” Loki kept up his string of conversation, filling Tony in about the rules of local racing and what to expect from the people who would be there while he finished up the remaining pikelet mix. He tipped the cooked contents of the frying pan onto the serving plate in the middle of the table, and finally sat down to eat his own breakfast, Tony tangling their feet together to run his toe along Loki’s ankle.

“So will you come?”

Tony huffed and flicked a bit of stray pancake at Loki. “Of course, idiot. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You’re gonna blow them all out of the water.”

“Technically off the track, but your enthusiasm is appreciated.” Loki smirked when Tony’s toes left their pattern to kick him in the calf before taking up their previous path along his skin. “You want to help me check my dirt bike over? It’s quite different to Hel, I think you’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah, sure. I always wanted to ride a bike, you know, but it made getting to meetings on time a pain in the ass because I had to spend time rearranging myself to look decent for them. Suits and heavy jackets apparently don’t mix.” He reached across for Loki’s empty plate and rinsed them both off in the sink before leaning his hip on the counter and drying his hands on a tea towel. “Where do you keep your bikes anyway?”

“Get dressed and I’ll show you.”

So a few minutes later when both were clad in heavier clothes to keep them warmer, Loki led Tony down the stairs to the underground parking complex of his apartment block. There was a small garage-type area the landlord had offered Loki for his bikes, which he gladly accepted. He lifted the roller door one-handed and stepped back with flourish, his arm encompassing Hel and another bike with blue mud guards and the Yamaha logo emblazoned on the tank.

“So… this is the mysterious racing bike?” Tony stepped closer and surveyed the mud splashes on the inside of the wheel guards and the way the seat dipped in the middle, obviously well worn in. 

“Yep, this is my track bike. I got her when I was sixteen, ‘bout five years before I decided I wanted a road bike and got Hel.” Loki patted his other bike’s red tank fondly. “I used to get Thor to drive me out to tracks and go racing… Frigga was really cool about it, supported me and everything but Odin was convinced that it was a deathtrap and I was going to kill Thor as well as myself. Frigga knew that I knew the risks, and she also knew that there was a snowball’s chance in hell of me ever hitting Thor.” Loki’s eyes were hard, but he breathed through his nose and carried on. “As I got older Odin tried to tell me that I wasn’t allowed to race anymore, so in the school holidays Thor and I would tell him we were going camping, but Thor would find races for me and come along as my pit man.” He grinned broadly, and Tony couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his own face. 

“If you need a pit man for the race tomorrow, I’m not guaranteeing anything, but I do build robots for a living. I can try my best,” Tony shrugged cockily, and Loki swatted his shoulder.

“I’m not undervaluing you, I fully recognize your talents as a qualified engineer. Speaking of which, catch, we’re taking her for a spin.” Tony barely caught the helmet Loki tossed at him and watched as the dark-haired man pulled on his own and mounted the blue bike easily, kicking up the gearstand. “Well?”

“Where the hell do you want me to sit?” Tony asked incredulously, but fitted the helmet over his head. Loki pulled him in by the sleeve to fasten the strap securely under his chin. 

“Behind me, obviously.” Loki shuffled forwards a little, creating more room for Tony sit behind him as the other man still eyed him doubtfully. “Trust me, you’ll be fine. Just hold on to me, because dirt bikes don’t have hand straps.” Loki stood as Tony finally conceded defeat and clambered on, then settled himself firmly in his own seat, kicking the bike to life beneath him. He chuckled to himself when two hands abruptly shot around his waist and locked themselves there.

Just to piss him off, Loki rode out of the apartment parking lot faster than normal, chuckling at Tony’s shriek as they bounced over the speed bump.  
The Detroit back streets were curiously empty for ten AM on a Saturday, so Loki opened the throttle a little more than he normally would, letting the feel of the bike beneath him take him away. He was conscious of Tony laughing against his back, and caught some of what he shouted.

“-ike was made for two people?” Loki put the pieces together and shouted him an answer.

“Of course not! It’s a dirt bike, it’s meant for one rider only. Hold on!” He whooped as he revved the bike again, taking a sharp corner and grinning into his helmet. Tony’s arms tightened around him and he felt a chest pressing tight against his back. The asphalt disappeared beneath his tires, and for a moment he was sixteen again, taking his bike out on the back streets of his home town, hoping that no cops were around to see some skinny teen taking corners too fast and narrow…

Loki ended their ride back after avoiding a police car or two, who wouldn’t care that they were wearing helmets, but would be more concerned about the fact he was driving an offroad bike on urban roads without plates or the right tires. He kicked the stand under the bike again and let Tony get off the bike first before swinging his own leg over.

“So, how do you think it handles? Well enough to race tomorrow?” Loki asked, pulling the helmet from Tony’s head to reveal his scowling features, which Loki kissed just because he could.

“It’s your bike, you tell me. I think you’re set for tomorrow, though.” Tony folded his arms and shrugged, prompting Loki to unfold them and replace them in a better position with one around his waist as he pulled the door down on the shed.

“I agree, I think the only thing left is to find my bike leathers, don’t you?”

Loki didn’t miss the way Tony’s head swivelled sharply when he mentioned leather, and laughed all the way back to his apartment. He didn’t remember ever feeling so at ease before a race, but with Tony, he wasn’t worried at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect the next update around the same time next month, if not earlier because I won't have 20 other things to do then.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki was fiddling with the sleeve of a worn black leather jacket with a high collar that he had folded down over a grey shirt and blue and black armoured motorcross pants that suited him far too well, considering they were built for safety and not fashion.
> 
> "I think you look ready to kick some serious ass." Tony announced finally, rising from his chair to show his appreciation in kisses.

The day of the race dawned bright on the couple whose legs were tangled in Loki’s bed once again. Each breathed in the closeness of the other before Loki wrested himself out from under the blankets and quilt, pulling Tony by the hand after him. The shorter man groaned at his woeful fate, but Loki ignored him in favour of throwing another quilt over them both and shuffling towards the bathroom. The tour was given in a comfortable silence before Loki gave Tony free run of the bathroom, taking the time to dig his racing gear out of his closet.

It had been several years since he had needed it and after rummaging around behind several coats and blazers and batting aside a hardly-worn kimono he emerged triumphant with a pair of heavy pants and a leather jacket – one without studs in it, as they hurt a lot at high speeds – and tossed both onto the bed. He regarded them for a few moments before stripping off his shirt, deciding that they needed to be tried on for size. Tony whistled from somewhere behind him, and Loki turned indignantly to find him standing with only a towel wrapped around his waist. “And you can _still_ manage to objectify me even when you’re practically naked yourself.”

“Wouldn’t want to miss a chance to blatantly ogle you, would I?” He quipped back, and thus Loki was forced to employ underhanded tactics. He stepped into Tony’s space and kissed him, one hand covering Tony’s where he gripped the edges of the towel together. Loki’s tongue brushed against the seam of Tony’s lips and they parted greedily, granting him permission to taste and to explore properly. Tony somehow found himself with his other hand wound around Loki’s neck and their chests pressed together, but any unlikely upsets he had were violently banished when Loki’s hand found the curve of his spine and gently traced lines up and down it.

Loki eventually allowed Tony to break away for air and set a smug look on his thoroughly reddened lips. “You’re absolutely right, blatantly ogling must be taken advantage of,” He looked pointedly down at where the towel distended at the meeting of Tony’s legs, his interest in the kiss showing obviously.

“Don’t act all saintly, like you’re any better.” Tony’s hand tapped Loki’s crotch making him flinch a little, mainly because of his awkward half-erection pinned against the material of his boxers.

“Get you and your towel out of my sight, I need to shower.” He said gruffly, kissing Tony’s shoulder briefly before ducking behind him into the bathroom and firmly closing the door. He didn’t bother with the lock, because he trusted Tony not to barge in on him unannounced, and even if he did, Loki couldn’t quite convince himself that he would care if he was naked in front of Tony.

His bathroom was exactly as it was before he let Tony into it, and Loki smiled at his careful replacement of his shampoo on the shelf of the shower. He adjusted the temperature to suit him before stripping and submerging himself in the spray. It was a pounding pressure on the nape of his neck, soothing and working the knots out of his muscles. He knew he would be dusty and sweaty later on, but showers like this were calming enough for his nerves, especially before his first race in months. He drifted a little, holding the track and the other participants in his mind’s eye, Tony standing on the edge of the track, his jacket discarded next to him on the grass as he stands and shouts for Loki, cheering him onwards as he finishes a good mile ahead and Tony runs to him and they are in the bedroom…

Loki opened his eyes quickly, breathing slightly faster than it had been when he first entered the shower. His hand was only inches away from the apex of his thighs and Loki paused, unsure. Tony was just down the hall from him while he stood in the shower and was literally seconds away from having a round of masturbation to thoughts of his-

Fuck it, his boyfriend, he was _allowed_ to masturbate about him, it was practically expected. Loki wrapped his hand around his erection slowly, getting a feel for himself before giving a few short strokes to build tension, alternating by swiping his thumb over his slit, tiny gasps escaping his dampened lips. It was quick, messy and satisfying, and did exactly what he needed it to do, leaving him slumped against the shower wall while the water washed away his come and his cares.

The race was simply a dot on the horizon, it wasn’t even for money. Loki slowly reached for the handle and shut off the water, pushing himself to an upright position after catching his breath again. Steam had filled the bathroom and he hit the switch for the extractor fan on his way past to his towel, slung on the back of the bathroom door. He brushed the excess water from his body and mussed his hair with it before wrapping it around his waist and exiting the hazy bathroom, steam still lingering from the hot water. He quickly pulled on a pair of underwear underneath his towel and reached for his biking gear. Loki knew Tony would still be lurking in or near his bedroom when he exited the bathroom, and was not in the least surprised when he felt arms winding around him moments after straightening up from getting his biking gear.

"You look really good in a towel, but honestly, the colour doesn't suit you. I think you should get rid of it, it's clashing with your skin tone..." Tony's voice murmured into his neck. "Yeah, definitely drop it. This towel is personally offending me."

Loki complied and let the towel slide from his waist to gather on the floor, revelling in Tony’s surprised intake of breath.

"You conniving bastard." 

Loki laughed and reached for Tony, whose face was now set in a scowl at Loki's underwear, which Tony hadn’t seen him put on.

"Well you don't expect me to be late for my own challenge race do you? Come on Tony, don't pretend like you didn't expect this." Loki coaxed his chin up and kissed him smoothly, waiting until he felt Tony loosen under his lips. 

"If you've made breakfast I will formally present you with my apartment key."

Loki announced finally, and the smirk on Tony's face was answer enough. 

"I look forward to the ceremony."

"Prove it first."

Tony shrugged and waited until Loki had wriggled into his bike pants before leading him down the hall. The closer they got to the kitchen, the stronger the scent of bacon and the bigger Tony's smirk became. "Voila, breakfast is served." On the table rested a plate of bacon and several poached eggs rested in the frying pan over the cooling stove.

"You remembered." Loki said, beaming at Tony resting his hip on the table. "It's been two weeks and you remembered exactly how I like my eggs." Loki pulled him forward into his arms and peppered Tony's brow with kisses. "I'm keeping you, definitely."

Tony chuckled and kissed Loki's nose back before extricating himself from Loki's arms to sit down. They ate with their usual game of footsie under the table, and ended the meal with Tony pressed up against the cupboards while Loki expressed his thanks in kisses and wandering hands.

"Jesus- I- _Loki_! As fun as this is, you gotta stop or you're gonna be late to your own damn race."

Loki continued to suck a bruise onto Tony's neck before stepping back to admire his work. "I suppose you're right," he said sadly. "That _would_ be annoying. Think of how it would tarnish my reputation as a racer."

Loki grinned the sort of grin that made you want to hit a person, and Tony pushed him in the shoulder.

"Yeah, well, let's see how long you last in a different kind of race afterwards, shall we?"

Loki cocked an eyebrow. "Innuendoes, Mr Stark? That's inappropriate. Are you _trying_ to distract me?"

"No, I'm making a promise, which I hope you will let me keep." Tony pitched the end of it up, asking Loki's permission in a roundabout sort of way.

"Oh, I assure you, I'll definitely _hold you to it_." Loki winked and went in search of his jacket and a shirt.

"Fuck you!"

"Only if you really want to." Loki's hair whipped out of sight around the corner, leaving a thoroughly frustrated Tony to wait out his reappearance. Tony waited in some discomfort, shifting a few times to try quashing his downstairs brain’s sudden interest in Loki’s words. Somehow by the time Loki reappeared, he’d managed to get himself under some form of control, all of which quickly vanished when he took in Loki’s new appearance.

"What do you think? It's been a while since I've had these out to be honest." Tony had some difficulty getting his mouth to respond, although his dick certainly had a strong opinion on the matter.

Loki was fiddling with the sleeve of a worn black leather jacket with a high collar that he had folded down over a grey shirt and blue and black armoured motorcross pants that suited him far too well, considering they were built for safety and not fashion.

"I think you look ready to kick some serious ass." Tony announced finally, rising from his chair to show his appreciation in kisses. Loki responded accordingly and grinned when they resurfaced for air, slightly breathless in the middle of the kitchen.

"Excellent, that's what I intend to do. Shall we?" 

~~

Loki rode his bike with Tony, this time wearing a helmet, and they swung by Tony's place so he could pick up a car to follow Loki to the track.  The place was off the highway, on a back road down a narrow winding drive that proved more difficult than Tony had expected to navigate with his car. He was glad he’d chosen the least conspicuous of his cars by the time branches brushed the roof of it for the umpteenth time. When they arrived Matt was already there speaking to Clint and someone else Loki didn’t recognize. Loki waved, but the movement was sort of aborted when he remembered Matt couldn't see him. Clint grinned horribly when he saw Loki's slip up.

"Loki! Nice of you to come." Matt said when Loki cut his engine, walking straight to where he was dismounting the bike. It was unerring how he had absolute accuracy even despite being blind.

"Nice to be here, but I didn't come to be nice, Matt, I came to race the pants off you." Matt laughed and Loki walked his bike closer to the track proper. “So, you ready to go then? Or are we waiting for other people to show up?”

“Nah, whenever you’re ready. It’s just you and me, everyone else seems to think they’ll win with both hands tied behind their back. Don’t go easy on me either. There are seats by the mill for your friends too, if they want to sit.”

“Awesome. How many laps?”

“Five. I’ll meet you at the start.” Matt walked off to retrieve his own bike while Loki continued to walk his to the track, kicking it onto the stand in front of the mill which would serve as a starting point. Tony and Clint had trailed behind him to take up seats by the man from before near the mill and when Matt kicked his bike down next to Loki’s he asked about him.

“Oh, that’s Foggy. He’s my support person.” Matt grinned and waved, making Foggy look up and wave back. “Ready to go?”

“Oh please, I was born ready. You want to scope the track before we go or…?”

“Don’t need to.” Loki waited to let Matt explain. “I can… hear the track, you know? I don’t know how to say it, but please, just race. I’ll be fine.”

“Very well. I believe you.” Loki left it at that and put his foot on the kickstart, giving it a good shove down before the motor caught and spun. The familiar rumble of the machine beneath him was a comfort, and Loki could tell it was the same for the blind racer in the way he grinned. Clint stepped out in front of them both as they pushed in their kickstands, Loki on his blue bike, and Matt seated firmly on his red as Clint held his jacket above his head.

“Racers ready?” He yelled, eyebrows raised and both men nodded back at him.

“On one. Three, two, one- go!” He dropped the jacket and Loki let the clutch go as fast as possible without stalling the bike hoping to get a head start on Matt, only to see they were evenly matched. He zoned out after that and other than seeing Clint spin around and squint to watch them roar off, he lost himself in the feel of the bike under him. Motorcycles were so _different_ to cars. You could drive a car, but never really ever learn anything about the way it moved. Motorcycles required handling and each person rode a different way, was suited to a different bike. You could ride every one, but much like cars people had preferences, there were specific things that made them a tougher opponent on a certain type. Loki was most at home on the track and had grown up on and around his motorcycles. Riding was second nature to him and he adjusted to the elements accordingly.

The first corner was loose, just as he had predicted and he carefully avoided the crumbly earth near the edge of the turn. He took the corner fast and sharp like he always did, putting him in front of Matt for the time. Loki didn’t have to glance backward but from the sharp rev of an engine, he guessed that Matt had probably ridden a little too close to the edge. He smirked under his helmet. It had been a long time, but he knew this track.

The rest of the corners were fine for him, and Matt soon surged up next to him again. The two men rode neck and neck along the home straight before Matt pulled in sharply to overtake Loki on the loose corner again. Now being behind, Loki observed as he carefully rode right on the edge of the soft earth around the corner, one foot coming off the peg to pace him around it. Loki was impressed. For a blind guy, Matt still rode incredibly.

The give and take between the two riders was mostly even up until the fourth lap where Loki took a corner almost _too_ sharply and skidded across the track a little, losing some speed. He built it back up again, but Matt had already gained a whole length ahead of him, careening across the dirt. Loki didn’t have time to change up gears before the next corner and had to wait it out behind his opponent. When the straight came up, Loki immediately geared into fourth and opened the throttle. Matt had changed up too, and the two men were again neck and neck on the loose corner. The last lap had Loki raised just out of his seat on every corner, but to no avail. The two racers crossed the line together.

“Well, I’d race you again but I don’t think it’ll make a difference. You haven’t lost any talent over the years at all.” Matt grinned, killing his engine and walking his bike over to the benches. Loki laughed and followed him there, Tony’s smile visible even from the track. His boyfriend met him halfway and threw his arms around his neck.

“God, do you have any idea what you do to me wearing these clothes?” Tony growled, kissing the available space of neck above Loki’s jacket. Loki chuckled and wrapped an arm around Tony’s waist, hugging him closer.

“I can take a guess.” He said, an arm around two of the most important things in his life.

“Hey, Loki, these your people?” Loki looked to where Foggy was pointing to a column of dust rising from the road up to the track. A large shiny black car was followed by a rider on a black bike with medium height ape hangers and an engine rumble that was so deep and loud Loki was convinced the rider had to be compensating for something.

“Nah, nobody I know.”

The small group moved closer to the mill to watch the newcomers arrive. The rider came over and idled his bike, obnoxiously revving the engine a couple of times before turning it off. His helmet was painted with a skull over the sides and visor, giving the impression of a skeleton rider. Tony gave an ugly snort when he saw it, and Loki heard him giggling ‘ghost rider!’ to himself before promptly shutting up when the helmet came off.

“Loki Laufeyson. I’d heard you’d taken up a race, but I didn’t think you’d go so far as to take advantage of a blind rider. This is a new kind of low, even for you. It’s been too long.” The low but slightly nasal voice matched the general demeanour of the man: disdainful. His ashy blonde hair was gelled so thoroughly that not a strand was out of place, even after having pulled his helmet off, and his eyes were a pale, sickly blue that was reminiscent of antifreeze. Loki would have recognized them if not everything else too.

“Thanos Chitau. The pleasure is all yours, I assure you.” He said, his arm around Tony’s waist tightening marginally. Tony covered his hand with one of his own, picking up on his discomfort.

“But aren’t you going to introduce me? I’m afraid I haven’t kept up to date, I don’t recognize your boy toy.” Thanos grinned, baring his clinical white teeth. Tony’s hand squeezed Loki’s own when he growled low in his throat.

“Hey, that’s my friend you’re talking about.” Clint said, taking a step forward and unfolding his arms. Loki wanted to tell him to stand down, but couldn’t do so without a good excuse why. ‘Because he once broke my wrist for smiling’ didn’t quite cover it.

“You’ve got one hell of a nerve showing up here and talking trash to good people. What do you want?” Matt spoke up, still leaning on his bike. Thanos turned slowly and appraised him before speaking, addressing Loki.

“I want a race. I challenge your _friend_ here to three laps around. His bike wagered against mine. I hope you’re not too attached to him.” He added, eyes raking over Tony.

“Loki, what-“ Tony started, slipping out of Loki’s hold and turning to him.

“I accept.” Loki talked over the top of Tony and held Thanos’ eyes. “Give me ten minutes to get ready.”

“You have five.”

Loki immediately kicked the stand down on his bike and finally turned to Tony. “Loki, what the hell! This guy’s like a goddamn drug dealer, shadier than a jungle and you just accept a race?”

“It was accept or forfeit. Thanos is from my racing days, he used to haunt the tracks a couple states over from us and he had a reputation that nobody really liked to mention. Nobody likes to bring it up still, and when he races you, he races for belongings.”

“So? You have Hel, right? It’s cool, we can get you another bike-“

“Tony, it’s not my bike I’m worried about. Didn’t you hear him? He’s racing me for you, too.”

Loki bit his lip in anguish while Tony processed his words.

“Can’t you just tell him to fuck off?”

Had Loki not encountered Thanos before he might have laughed. “The skull on his helmet isn’t for fun. Certain circles call him the Reaper because of the blood on his hands. Racers tend to have unfortunate accidents around him when they don’t give him what he wants.”

“Well, you’re just going to have to win then, aren’t you?” Tony announced finally, squaring his shoulders. “’Cause I can tell you right now, I’m not going anywhere with this scumbag. You win for me, you hear?”

“Winning is the least of many things I would do for you.” Loki shook his head and kissed him soundly, ignoring Clint’s fake retching from behind them. He pulled on Tony’s hair a little possessively and basked in the soft gasp against his mouth.

“One more for good luck?” He asked, and Tony obliged readily.

“You almost keep me waiting, Loki.” Thanos said as Loki approached him.

“Perhaps you should invest in some patience.” He replied and pulled his helmet on, stemming any further conversation. He was treading an incredibly fine line with his disdain for Thanos, and the helmet also meant he’d be safe for a while longer.

Clint started the race again, albeit a little more nervously than last time and with significantly less grinning. Loki geared into second barely metres off the line and gunned the throttle. He held a lead over Thanos the whole first lap, his smaller bike being able to pick up speed faster and hold it more efficiently. Crossing the line into the second lap, however, the black bike crept up alongside him and inched ahead coming into the same loose corner that had almost thrown off Matt. Loki snarled in his helmet and upped gears again. He kept pace just behind Thanos, the other rider taking his turns wide, justifying losing some speed by not allowing Loki the space to get past him. He weaved on the straights too and Loki wanted to scream in frustration at ever letting Thanos get past him. He knew he was going to have a hell of a time getting the lead back, especially in the last lap.

He made his move on the loose corner: Thanos took it wide, and Loki cut through on the inside, neatly cutting him off. He held his lead right up until the final straight, when a few metres out from the line Thanos turned to skid his bike across the line. It was a practiced move Loki had seen him execute time and time again when he wanted to finish in style, but never when he was _behind_ someone. Loki realized why as he saw the back wheel coming around to meet his own out of the corner of his eye, and by opening the throttle to escape it, only sealed his own fate. The fat tyre of the black bike hit his own spinning at an increased speed, jerking his bike forwards and jolting his right leg off its peg. The whole bike, off balance then tilted over onto its side, Loki’s left leg pinned between the ground and the engine, burning hot from both races. He felt his helmet collide with the dirt of the track, his eyes squeezing shut at the impact and his ears ringing.

He was dimly aware of someone nearby shouting his name.

An engine roar cut out into silence.

Loki left his eyes shut.

~~

_He was being lifted into a car, Tony’s arms at his back. “Hey, you’re going to be okay, it’s okay, you’re doing fine…” He was so far away._

There was only darkness at the back of his eyelids. He was too tired to open them anyway. Somewhere to the right, something dripped occasionally. His left leg was heavy. The darkness was so soft…

_They were carrying him, one of his arms around a shoulder each of two men. Someone he knew was speaking quickly on the phone._

_“He’s with us again.” Someone said gravely to his left._

_“Loki! Loki it’s not far, you’re almost there, I’ve got you…” The voice on his right was so familiar…_

The dripping wouldn’t stop. Loki wished it would, so he could try sleep again, but the noise persisted. For such a small noise, it was cutting through his attempts at sleep so efficiently it might have been two hundred decibels in the quiet of this place. He grunted and opened his eyes to find it’s source.

When his eyes had adjusted, he beheld a small sink in the corner of a pale room, water droplets falling from the tap into the basin every few moments. Behind it was a window, shuttered by sensible off-white blinds, under which two pudgy chairs took up residence and Loki privately thought the floor would probably be more comfortable.

“You’re up!”

Loki turned toward the voice, and Tony’s smile was so wide it must have hurt him. “Took you long enough, I’ve been waiting a full day you selfish bastard. I have meetings and shit I could be going to.”

Loki smiled weakly. “But you appreciate me providing an excuse not to attend them, be honest.”

“Yeah, okay you got me there.” Tony said and sat on the edge of Loki’s bed. “It’s good to see you.”

Loki hauled himself upwards, surprised to see his left leg poking out from under the bedspread in splints and bandaged, but leaned forwards into Tony anyway. “It’s good to see you too.”

“Mr Laufeyson? I’m Doctor Selvig. How are you feeling?” A greying man in tweed trousers and a white coat hovered in the doorway, clipboard resting against his hip. He spoke with a twang that judging from his name was probably Nordic, and he had an easy nature that put Loki at rest.

“I’m good for the most part. Still trying to figure out what happened though. Apparently I lost some time…?” Loki raised his eyebrows at Tony, who nodded.

“You did – only about twenty four hours, nothing alarming. I’m going to check you for neural damage and then Mr Stark can fill you in.” Doctor Selvig proceeded to check his eyes with a small torch, then also asked him a few simple questions like his birth date, full name and current address.

“Everything seems to be in order. You might get some infrequent headaches for a week or so, but I’ll get you some pain relief for those. You’re free to talk now.” Doctor Selvig left the room as quickly as he entered it, leaving a pause in his wake.

“Well, do you want the movie script or the novel version?” Tony had his hands behind his head in one of the chairs by the window. Loki thought for a moment while he tried to wiggle his toes. Now that he was aware of the bandage, it was beginning to itch. “Novel version, I think.”

“All right then, blow by blow play it is.” Tony said, fidgeting in the chair a little.

“You know what happened for all of the race, I’m guessing, so I’ll fill you in from where Thanos pulled his dick move. You guys were just coming up to the finish line and you’d pulled ahead and were going to beat his punk ass and probably get his bike, I’m still not sure entirely what you guys agreed on. Anyway. He did this freaky tailspin thing and was coming around sideways at your back wheel, obviously you’d seen because you tried to get away but he hit the back of the bike. Your leg got knocked off, you overbalanced and the bike fell on top of you. Thanos – that is his name, right? – well, he pulled his leg out from under in time and skidded across after his bike. It was kind of ironic actually, when he hit you he pushed you over the line.

“But yeah, um, Clint and I figured there was something up, especially when you didn’t do anything when you went down, so we came over to check it out. You’d been knocked out when your head smacked the ground, Matt helped us pull the bike off your leg to see what else had gone wrong. The engine burned through the unarmoured gaps in your pants and there were some pretty ugly burns on you, so we got you to the hospital to get you checked out, which was good because they did an X-ray and you have a hairline fracture in your tibia too. Selvig said it’s not all the way through, so you’re off work for a month and a half at least, no walking for that time and you’re also being issued with crutches when we go. We’re stuck here for a couple more days while the swelling goes down and so they can treat your burns so they can put a cast on your leg.”

“So I won?”

“I tell you that you’re in a cast for like three months, and can’t walk for two and all you take away is that you won the fucking race? Jesus, Loki.” Tony said exasperatedly.

“It’s important though. What happened to Thanos?” Loki’s leg didn’t feel so heavy now, more numb, which was from the painkillers he supposed.

“Got up after his skid and went to leave you there. Matt saw to him – did you know he did martial arts? Damn. He’s doing post-grad law a year early, and from what Clint said on the phone apparently he’s building a pretty convincing case against him. It sounded like most lawyers didn’t think he was capable of doing it or were too scared to look, but after some digging Matt and Foggy found some missing persons cases and the plates of the black car that came with him didn’t check out. He’s for the slammer if you ask me.” Tony shrugged disdainfully.

“And Matt did all that in twenty four hours?” Loki asked incredulously.

“Yep. He’s efficient, man, like a devil on wheels.” Tony stood up from the chair and rubbed at his lower back a little, grimacing. Loki scooted over in the bed and patted the space next to him, squeezing up against the railing to make room for Tony to lie next to him.

“I’m glad. Thanos did some things he deserves to pay for. There are a lot of people who’d love to see him locked up, me included.” Loki admitted as Tony hauled himself up and carefully lay down against Loki’s right side.

“I wouldn’t mind either, considering he hurt you. I was looking forward to making good on my promise, but now I guess I’ve got four months to wait, huh?”

Loki cast his mind back to the morning before his fateful race where they had actually almost discussed sex like a normal couple. Loki wanted to cringe away from Tony in shame and fear. Four months was a long time to wait after only kissing for one, especially when your partner had all but said they would prefer to wait. Loki made his decision in a few seconds, convincing himself it was for the best. The pain he was about to inflict on himself would go away, just as surely as they pain in his leg would go away and heal like nothing had happened. Tony was only being nice, nobody waited that long, especially not for Loki Laufeyson. _Especially_ not somebody like Tony Stark.

“Tony no, I can’t keep you like that. It’s been nice, it really has, I’ve loved spending time with you but I’m not your ball and chain. You can go, I don’t mind.” _Liar!_ His brain screamed at him, but he ignored it in favour of becoming suddenly amazed at the pattern on the hospital bedspread, anywhere that wasn’t Tony’s face. The silence seemed to last an eternity.

“…What?”

Loki took a shallow breath. “I get it if you want to break up.”

“ _What?”_

“I thought I’d made myself clear. You can go.” Loki was getting angry now. Why wasn’t Tony just going instead of making this harder for them both?

“You seem to be under some kind of illusion that I’m being forced into some kind of torture by spending four months around you with a cast on. Loki, I’m fine with it, I swear. Fuck, I’m actually kind of looking forward to it. A month of you lying down with nothing better to do but read and no way for you to escape me? Huh, I thought you knew.” Tony was propped on his elbow, leaning over to force Loki to make eye contact.

“Knew what? That you’re too good for me? I figured.” Loki’s upper lip twitched, and he fought to keep it under control.

“No, smartass. Why the hell else would I have faked liking work just to come into your coffeeshop? Loki,” Tony leaned further over and carefully took his face in his hands. “I love you.”

Loki’s heart shattered in three words. His lip trembled dangerously and he screwed his eyes shut, Tony’s face filling his vision with his eyes open. A gentle thumb brushed away a stray tear that wound it’s way down his cheek.

“It’s the drugs they gave me. They’re making me emotional.” He said sternly, inwardly grateful that his voice was stable through the sentence. Tony laughed lightly.

“Yeah, two codeine tablets have weakened your heart of stone. It’s the meds, of course.” Tony kept calmly running his hand across Loki’s forehead, brushing his hair out of his eyes and efficiently erasing any tears that dared leak further from them. Loki sniffed a little and brought his hand up to tap at Tony’s chin. He made an inquisitive noise before Loki reached up and pressed their lips together in just the shadow of a kiss, something so chaste and careful Tony was scarcely sure it happened. The corners of Loki’s mouth tilted up though, and Tony was absolutely positive of the existence of the second kiss. Eyelashes fluttered against his cheek from where Loki was resting against him. “Will you laugh at me if I tell you I don’t want to go back to sleep because I’m scared you’re a dream?” He whispered.

Tony brought his hand up and cupped the back of Loki’s head, kissing his hair. “No.” Loki laughed softly. Tony leaned them backwards to lie on the pillows again, one hand resting on Loki’s cheek still. “I’ll be here.”

“You’d better fucking be or I’ll hobble out of here and beat you.” Loki said crossly, but his smile ruined the effect. “Tony?”

“M-hm?”

“I love you too.”

Tony stayed on the hospital bed long after Loki fell asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue to go! Thank you so much for sticking around through all my bullshit (◠△◠✿)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Loki Laufeyson, you absolute asshole!”
> 
> He was off to a wonderful start after his recovery, receiving a slap in the face from Natasha for the trouble of finishing his first class back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And at last, I earn my explicit rating!

Loki’s two and a half months of rest passed almost like a dream. True to his word, Tony insisted Loki stay at his house, and given that almost all of Loki’s possessions had been transported there at some point or other, he had rather effectively just moved into Tony’s house. Tony was more than all right with this development, and went out of his way to make things as easy as possible for Loki. He got scolded for it often as Loki scowled about not being a princess as he hobbled from room to room.

Once he was allowed to try walking without crutches, Tony found a plethora of new problems right at his fingertips. These mostly consisted of Loki having to call him to help him up off the ground in strange places around the house. For example, the garage, which he had limped down the stairs into, then stubbed his toe in and couldn’t get back up the stairs out of. Tony tried not to smile, he really did, but Loki cussing at a car tire was the limit.

Tony also became significantly better at cooking meals since Loki would perch himself on a bar stool and oversee all goings-on in the kitchen at all times. With Loki’s dictation and pointers, Tony became a rather good cook, much to Loki’s pleasure.

There was also the fact that Tony got to make up his own hours, so this effectively meant that Loki spent a good three weeks on the couch curled into Tony’s side while they watched shitty daytime TV together and bad horror movies when it got later. There was a lot of making out involved, but Loki had a feeling neither of them were going to complain about it that much (or at all).

Tony’s house became familiar to him, and when he ventured to the hospital to have the cast removed, it was to Tony’s house he returned, and immediately began climbing the stairs simply because he could. Tony applauded and Loki pulled the fingers at him for being a sarcastic piece of shit, but then kissed him anyway when Tony climbed the stairs to meet him.

Loki reflected on it one night before he was due to make his return to college – thankfully his teachers had been keeping in touch by email so he wasn’t behind. He and Tony had just… clicked in the two and a half months together, learning the ins and outs of their respective personalities and the way they liked to do things. Saying ‘I love you’ had become habit, and Loki squirmed with happiness in the bed when he thought of it. Tony mumbled in his sleep and rolled closer to him, tucking his head into the crook of Loki’s neck. Loki smiled down at him, a living example of how they fit together so well. Loki kissed his brow and pulled the covers higher before drifting to sleep himself.

~*~

“Loki Laufeyson, you absolute asshole!”

He was off to a wonderful start after his recovery, receiving a slap in the face from Natasha for the trouble of finishing his first class back.

“Nat, what the hell?” He yelped, rubbing his sore cheek.

“Racing fucking motorbikes is what the hell! Why didn’t you tell me?” She demanded, and Loki marvelled inwardly at how someone so short could have so much anger.

“Mostly because you didn’t need to know, but partly because I guessed you’d overreact like this.” Loki regretted his choice of words immediately after speaking them.

“ _Overreacting_ , huh? So I’m over reacting that you just spent _ten weeks off school because you were fucking immobile?”_

“Yes! I’m fine now, okay?”

Natasha inhaled deeply and then breathed out, counting under her breath. “Can you even hear yourself? Jesus Christ,” she hissed at him.

“I just didn’t want you to worry, okay? I’m sorry.” Loki made her look at him to prove he was earnest. “I’m sorry, Nat.”

“Fucking asshole,” she said again, but it didn’t have as much venom behind it. “You’re lucky I heard about it from Clint. What the hell stopped you from picking up your goddamn phone and calling us, huh?” She demanded, taking his arm and forcefully escorting him out the door of the class.

“I got- distracted,” Loki hedged. Natasha gave him a knowing look out of the corner of her eye.

“Yeah, by your boyfriend I bet. Jesus, you guys are sickening. Next you’ll be updating your Facebook statuses with stupid love notes for each other. Ugh,” she complained.

Loki grinned.

“Have you guys even gone pelvic yet? You’d think with all the eye-fucking you’ve been doing you’d get down to business.”

“Excuse _me_ Natasha, you don’t know that.” Loki retorted, crossing his arms in a bitter act of defiance.

“Yeah, I do actually. You’d be acting differently and you’d have texted me by now. I know you, Loki Laufeyson.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

Thankfully, Clint chose this moment to announce his presence.

“Loki! You’ve rejoined the land of the living I see.”

“That I have Clint, your observation skills are as sharp as ever,” Loki quipped. Clint went to punch him on the arm, but stopped and looked worried.

“I broke my leg, not my shoulder,” Loki reminded him.

Clint grimaced. “Yeah yeah, I know, just making sure you don’t keel over and die.” He then proceeded to punch Loki, perhaps a shade lighter than usual. “Thanos is in prison. Matt’s case went without a hitch, fucking slammed Thanos into the ground as far as evidence goes. Apparently there were a lot of people more than willing to testify against him once they realized that Matt wasn’t going to piss his pants when faced with a defence attorney,” Clint added.

Loki smiled vindictively. “Good.”

The day proceeded without any further incident from either Natasha or Clint, and Loki waited for Tony to pick him up after his class finished since the bike had been vetoed out by Tony.

“How was class?” Tony asked after leaning across in his seat to kiss Loki in a hello.

“Much the same as usual. I found out that Thanos is in prison. Good riddance,” he said, and Tony made a noise of agreement as he pulled out into the traffic. “Oh, and Natasha slapped me.”

Tony barked a laugh before reigning himself in. “Did you deserve it?” Loki made an offended noise. “Well, did you?”

“Maybe.” Loki folded his arms petulantly.

“C’mon babe, cheer up. There’s food at the house, I even got those shitty grain crackers you like.”

Loki cheered up significantly. “You got vitawheats?”

Tony nodded in resignation. He hated vitawheats, much to Loki’s amusement.

All through dinner and into the evening Natasha’s words clung to him though. She was right – he and Tony had only done vaguely sexual things before stopping and backing right away from them before they got out of hand. Now that he’d noticed it, Loki’s frustration built.

What if Tony didn’t _want_ to have sex at all? Loki could handle that. Probably. Sure, it’d be a bit of a dampener, but Loki would still love him. Frustrated beyond belief sometimes, but still in love. Loki was convinced that even if Tony suddenly revealed himself to be an alien from space that he’d still love him.

But the fact remained that they’d done nothing really physical, despite all their declaring their love for each other. Loki recalled the day of the race where they’d both made various thinly-veiled innuendoes, and Tony’s promise to do… Loki wasn’t sure exactly what Tony had in mind, be he knew it was dick-related for sure. But then he’d had his accident and that had all been tossed out the window in favour of Tony taking care of him. What if he’d lost interest by now?

Loki was fretting so much he didn’t even hear Tony come up behind the couch he was sitting on until arms slung themselves over his chest and a mouth nipped at the bolt of his jaw.

“You’re thinking too loudly. What’s got you so stressed out?”

Loki tilted his head and Tony chased the new skin exposed. “Nothing.” He sighed quietly when Tony found his ear and played with the snake coiled around it.

“Liar,” Tony whispered, then proceeded to comb his fingers through Loki’s hair.

“I was thinking about us,” Loki admitted, lost in the pleasing sensation of Tony's fingers against his scalp.

“Oh yeah?” Tony murmured absently, more focused on Loki’s neck than anything else.

“Yeah. Tony, bedroom. Let’s go,” Loki urged, and pried himself away from Tony’s mouth in order to stand.

Tony frowned. “Loki are you sure you’re ready? I mean, your leg-“

Loki almost growled as he climbed over the back of the couch and kissed Tony so fiercely he backed them into the wall. He ground his hips down against the shorter man’s, leaving no doubt as to his intentions.

“Tony, I have waited four fucking months for this,” he hissed between kisses. “My leg is fine. If it hurts, I’ll tell you, but otherwise we’re going to fuck because I have waited far too long to stop now.”

Tony groaned and hitched one leg up, hooking his heel around the back of Loki’s thigh, changing the angle of their rut against each other. “Jesus Christ, I know the feeling. Do you know how hard it was not to jump you when your leg was in a cast? _Fuck,”_ he added vehemently as Loki grabbed handfuls of his ass. “What are we waiting for?”

Loki hauled Tony’s other leg up and walked them down the hall to the bedroom, knowing his way from memory.

“I don’t fucking believe this,” Loki said once Tony was on the bed. He set to work removing his pants. “You mean to tell me that the whole four months you’ve been holding out on me, purely because of my _cast_?” He pulled the pants off Tony with a sharp yank, annoyance seeping through into his actions.

Tony sat up to undo Loki’s shirt, a mildly confused look on his face. “Well yeah, I didn’t want to make it worse for you-“

“ _My dick was not in a cast Tony Stark!”_ Loki growled, then surged forward to kiss Tony. It was haphazard and a little painful, their teeth clacking where the angle was off.

“I had to wait too,” Tony argued, his hands roving over Loki’s chest and tracing the wayward lines of one of his tattoos once he had pulled him free of his shirt. “It wasn’t just you flying solo.”

“I know that, but-“ Loki sighed and kissed him again, far less wildly. “I thought you weren’t interested,” he admitted, ducking his head into the crook of Tony’s neck.

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of the massive boner I got every single goddamn morning I woke up with you next to me,” Tony said incredulously. His hands dipped under the waistband of Loki’s slacks, then slid over his hips and under him to reach for the zip. “Loki Laufeyson, there is nothing about you that I am _not_ interested in. For the record, I’d say your dick is the _most_ interesting thing about you right now, and has been for a while.”

Loki laughed before it turned into a moan when Tony succeeded in his fight against the zipper and got his hands into his briefs.

“Oh yeah, definitely the most interesting part.” Tony felt out the shape of him, learning by touch before he drew his hand away. “C’mon, clothes,” he encouraged, guiding Loki to sit up off him for a moment. The bed moved when Loki stood to remove his pants, and Tony couldn’t remember ever removing his shirt and boxers so fast in his life. When he looked back up, Loki had one hand holding his slacks at his hip and a coy smile on his face. He wiggled his hips suggestively and slowly lowered his pants.

“Loki…”

His smile only grew at Tony’s whisper of his name, and he let the slacks and briefs fall to the floor.

“God, you’re beautiful,” Tony said, and reached out to Loki to draw him onto the bed. They both hissed when Tony flipped them and lowered himself onto Loki, their erections aligning and brushing together. Loki tilted his chin up and kissed Tony before slowly rocking his hips, creating friction between them.

“God, I feel like a teenager,” Loki laughed quietly, and nipped Tony’s top lip gently. Loki felt more than saw his smile in response.

The next thing Loki’s sex-addled brain registered was a tongue tracing the underside of his cock before he was enveloped in wet warmth. Loki cried out and forced himself not to buck his hips up into Tony’s mouth. Tony smiled around his cock, eyes meeting Loki’s, and laid both hands on his hips before sucking him down as far as he could. Loki gasped again, all coherent speech lost to him.

Tony took it slow, making up for all the hours they could have had together but didn’t, replacing time lost because of Loki’s injury. He experimented, learned the things that pushed Loki’s buttons and earned him wrecked little noises that he committed to memory. Tony moved up to suckle the head of Loki’s cock, tongue caressing his slit on every other pass.

“Tony- Tony c’mon-“ Loki’s broken plea called Tony away, and he kissed Loki’s tip before making his way up to his lips. Tony brushed a thumb across his cheekbone tenderly. “Tony, I want you to fuck me,” Loki said quietly.

Tony brushed their noses together, and kissed Loki with more fervor than he had earlier. “That can be arranged.” He reached out with one hand and fumbled blindly next to the bed, having moved his mouth to fix on Loki’s throat, with the intention of leaving behind several marks that wouldn’t fade for several days at the least. Tony made a triumphant noise as his hand returned with a condom and lubricant.

Loki’s breathing accelerated significantly when Tony’s fingers skittered across his perineum, so Tony distracted him by setting his lips to one of Loki’s nipples as he gently pressed one slick finger against the taut ring of muscles and pushed in.

Loki let his breath out on a sigh and arched his back to push up into Tony’s mouth against his chest, not noticing that Tony had worked a second finger in alongside the first.

“I thought that you didn’t want- me,” Loki grit out, then threw his head back into the pillows when Tony’s fingers crooked inside him. “I thought that- _ah-_ you were getting bored. That you were just saying it to humour me.” The tendons in his neck stood out in sharp relief to the soft curves of his shoulders and arms, hands twisted in the sheets.

“Saying what?” Tony asked, drawing his fingers out and adding a third back in. Loki keened.

“That you- _fuck-_ that you love me,” he squeezed his eyes shut. Nothing happened for a few moments, and when he dared to open his eyes Tony was kneeling between his legs, a look of absolute horror on his face.

“You thought I was lying about loving you.” It killed Loki that it wasn’t even phrased as a question.

“Not for long,” he argued, because it was true. The doubts had only crept in when Natasha had mentioned it and he had started second-guessing himself.

Tony didn’t cheer in the slightest. “You thought I didn’t love you,” he said, and he sounded so broken it was almost a physical hurt to Loki. He wanted to squirm, because Tony still had his fingers in him and it was getting uncomfortable, but he didn’t think it would be the best time.

“You thought I didn’t love you,” Tony repeated, but there was something harder in his eyes. He bent his fingers suddenly, catching Loki’s prostate and making him cry out.

“There is nothing _, nothing_ that can stop me from loving you,” Tony growled, relentlessly working Loki’s prostate until Loki thought he was going to cry from it. “A broken leg would make me lose interest? You could break every bone in your body and I would still fucking wait for you, wait with you, fucking _be_ with you,” he continued, then removed his fingers to wrestle with the condom packet. Tony tore it open swiftly and rolled it on, his movements sure. “Loki Laufeyson, _fuck you_ for thinking for one fucking second that I do not love you.”

Loki raised his head of the pillows in time to meet Tony’s eyes as he lined himself up and pushed inside in one long stroke. “I will never, ever stop loving you,” Tony gasped as he bottomed out, and Loki howled from the pleasure of it, Tony’s declaration and the feeling of them fitting together, _together_.

Everything was a hazy afterward for Loki, but he remembered that every time Tony had drawn out and driven back in, he’d repeated like a mantra, like a prayer, that he loved Loki. He came suddenly, his orgasm having rushed up to meet him, rather than building slowly like he had thought it would. He cried out to Tony as it happened, and felt instinctively that the other man had finished only moments behind him.

“I love you so much,” Tony murmured into the damp skin of the back of Loki’s neck when they lay together on top of the sheets, sated and tired, their hands linked over Loki’s stomach. “Never, ever forget that. I love you. I love you,” he punctuated it with kisses over Loki’s skin until Loki turned to kiss him properly.

“I love you too. I don’t think I could ever love another person so much as I love you,” Loki whispered, hushed, a confession caught between their lips. Tony inhaled deeply, like he wanted to breathe in Loki’s words and hold them in his lungs to savour them, let them diffuse into his blood.

They held each other as they fell asleep.

~*~

Early the next morning, hours before Tony woke up, Loki crept out of their bed, an itch in his fingers. He snatched up the nearest sheet of paper and a pen, scribbling furiously across the surface of it. He paused a few moments later and re-read his work, smiling by the time he reached the end of it. He folded it carefully and put it in the back of the tea box where Tony wouldn't find it. It wouldn't do to have him know what Loki's first book was going to be about. 

Tony didn't wake when Loki slipped into bed next to him once again.

~*~

Loki fidgeted with his tie. He fucking hated formal occasions, even if he did look good in a suit, but still. He'd even been coerced into taking out his nose piercing and snake earring, and he felt bereft without them. His ear was weirdly light and he was convinced there was a breeze going through his nose, no matter what science said. His mother was craning her neck in the front row, her pale green dress waving in the slight breeze, and he knew she would tell him off for playing with his clothes. Clint winked at him from the other side of the steps and bounced his eyebrows up and down several times. Loki wanted to roll his eyes but caught his mother's warning glance and thought the better of it.

Loki’s attention was drawn then by a figure in a black suit striding down the aisle between the scant seats in the garden, paying no attention to the rhythm of the music playing in the background whatsoever.

Loki rolled his lips together to keep from smiling as Tony hopped up the two steps to meet him, taking his hands in his own.

“Hey, handsome.”

Loki smiled. “You don’t look bad yourself.”

“Oh, shut up you two, you can flirt after you’re married,” Natasha scolded quietly from behind Loki. He and Tony shared a look of silent laughter before turning to face the cleric.

~*~

“So, Mr. Stark, how do you feel?”

Loki grinned at Tony where he sat next to him. “I don’t know, Mr. Stark, how do _you_ feel?”

Tony leaned in and kissed his new husband, taking maybe a shade longer than was necessary to do so. Clint cleared his throat from somewhere to Tony’s left. “Like I’m dreaming.” He smiled. “We’re married.”

Loki raised his left hand, the silver ring on his finger catching the afternoon sun as he twined his fingers between Tony’s on the tabletop. “That we are. I hope you realize what this means,” he said seriously.

Tony laughed. “You mean aside from me getting you to myself for the rest of our lives?”

Loki held his smile in check. “Aside from that.”

Tony narrowed his eyes a fraction, I don’t know Loki, what does it mean?”

Loki allowed the corners of his mouth to tilt up as he replied. “We’re going to have to get you your own motorcycle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, kudos-ing, commenting and putting up with my hectic posting schedule! I'm so sorry this last chapter took so long, but we're done now, and I got over my terrible writer's block for this so there we go. Thank you endlessly for all your patience and support, you guys are the best.


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